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WEATHER PREDICTION TO IMPROVE 

 NATIONAL SECURITY 



Recently, researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography participated in an 

 experiment sponsored by the Office of Naval Research to better understand the 

 interaction between oceans, air, and land, and the weather that results from their 

 combination. The ultimate goal, as far as the Navy was concerned, was to improve 

 fleet operations. Understanding the coastal environment is critical to both national 

 security and civilicm commvmities. More than half of the U.S. population lives on 

 the coast and a third of our Gross National Product is linked to the coastal zone. As 

 the population ir coastal states increases so does the need to improve the forecasting 

 of local weather and ocean conditions. A better understanding of coastal 

 meteorology would be of considerable benefit to the nation. Cocistal meteorology 

 ciffects air pollution and disaster preparedness; ocean pollution and safeguarding 

 near-shore ecosystems; off-shore oi! exploration and drilling; military and merchant 

 ship operations; and a host of other activities affecting commerce, industry, 

 transportation, health, safety, recreation, and national defense. 



Coastal meteorology is generally ignored by most meteorologists because it is made 

 difficult and complex by the unique weather and climate conditions created by the 

 diverse properties of land and ocean. The recent ONR/SIO project is changing this 

 fact. SIO researchers expanded the ONR project by irwtailing a network of 

 automated meteorological stations along the Big Sur coast. At each site, a 30-foot 

 tower, with instrum«?nts that measure wind speed emd direction, air temperature, 

 humidity, and pressure, has been built. Data is collected every minute, recorded 

 onto computers, and' analyzed. For the first time, little-understood weather events 

 are being measured and correlated. 



SIO researchers are establishing a marine coastal observatory to provide a network 

 of long term measurements to improve our ability to foreccist changes in the coastal 

 ocean and atmosphere. The observatory will be part of a sophisticated coastal 

 monitoring system aiid a "test-bed" platform for new technologies for global change 

 research. The observatory vnll allow the long time series measurements which are 

 needed to determine changes in the coasted ocean and to ameliorate the potential 

 degradation of the environment due to natural or anthropogenic effects. 

 Comprehensive, real-time information on the coastal ocean and atmosphere, from 

 these platforms and from other sites, will be integrated arid made available to 

 researchers, planners, local regulatoiy authorities, and the general public. 



SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY 

 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 



