355 



INTRODUCTION " 21 



to meet the challenges of large new programs. Instead of develop- 

 ing large permanent organizations with new facilities as in some 

 other countries, U.S. programs, such as the Mid-Ocean Dynamics 

 Experiment, Geochemical Ocean Sections, Coastal Upwelling Eco- 

 systehi 7\nalysis, and the Climate: Long-Range hivestigation. Mapping, 

 and Prediction projects, have evolved differently. Large programs 

 typically developed within the academic community through work- 

 shops. The community formed scientific steering groups, which 

 were accepted and funded by NSF and other federal agencies, and 

 set up program offices. These offices are located at academic 

 institutions, and program staff is hired for the project duration. 

 The program office may move as the leadership of the program 

 changes. Upon completion of the research program, the staff as- 

 sumes other duties and the facilities are used for other purposes, 

 so there is no long-term drain on agency resources. 



OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH, NATIONAL 

 AND INTERNATIONAL 



Oceanographic research involves studies of the motion of the 

 water, the distribution of marine life, and the interaction of sea- 

 water with ocean boundaries. Knowledge of the exchanges of 

 energy, heat, and mass at the ocean-atmosphere interface is im- 

 portant to climate and weather prediction. Oceanographic re- 

 search has advanced from the past era of exploration to one of 

 observation and description of ocean systems and of processes 

 within the ocean and among the ocean, atmosphere, and ocean 

 basins and boundaries. Because of the advances in satellite obser- 

 vation, computer modeling, and technology (e.g., global position- 

 ing systems and acoustic tomography), the coming decade of re- 

 search holds much promise. 



The ocean science community has developed several multi- 

 institutional, interdisciplinary research programs that should sig- 

 nificantly improve our knowledge of physical, chemical, geologi- 

 cal, and biological processes occurring in the ocean. One important 

 goal of these programs is to understand ocean processes in suffi- 

 cient detail to allow predictions to be made of the impact of hu- 

 man activities on the environment. Because of the global scale of 

 many environmental problems and the substantial resources (i.e., 

 financial, infrastructure, and human) required, large ocean research 

 programs are often cooperative international efforts. 



The nation's academic capability in ocean science is robust. 

 It is reflected in strong academic departments at many public and 



