580 



32 EXPANDING THE USES OF NA VAL OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



lation assessment and monitoring efforts depend on adequate information on sea 

 surface temperature, surface current patterns, and the depth of the thermocline. 

 These parameters make it possible to estimate the location of fronts which are 

 biologically active and may harbor significant populations of plankton and fish. 

 Although information of this type is not technology, the Navy has data pertinent 

 to fisheries interests, which could be transferred to the commercial sector through 

 various forecasting and data distribution services. 



Remote imaging techniques are important in locating and assessing fish 

 stocks, an important component offish stock management and development. The 

 National Marine Fisheries Service is pursuing the use of lidar (light detecting and 

 ranging) as a tool to ti-ack fish stocks, especially open-ocean stocks such as tuna 

 and salmon. Smaller fish that swim, and feed in schools could also be monitored 

 with such a system (Borstad et al., 1992). Although much of the existing technol- 

 ogy for remote imaging was originally developed for DOD use, it is beginning to 

 be declassified and has great potential as an assessment tool (Hunter and 

 Chumside, 1995). 



Areas of ONR-supported research with direct application to fisheries inter- 

 ests lie mostly within ONR 32 and NRL 7000. Imaging techniques developed in 

 these two divisions are beginning to be used for marine forecasting, and enthusi- 

 asm is building in the community for airborne assessment of fish stocks by these 

 methods. Meteorologic and oceanographic data and modeling will be of interest 

 to fisheries forecasting services. 



ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANIES 



The ocean and coastal environmental industry needs science and technology 

 in two major areas: (1) passive and active observation systems (e.g., remote and 

 in situ), and (2) predictive modeling. The primary need for these capabilities is in 

 regional seas, bays, sounds, estuaries, and other coastal water bodies. Integrated 

 systems for observation and modeling of coastal and nearshore waters would be 

 of direct and immediate use in assessing the impact of accidental and planned 

 discharges, site evaluation for nearshore and offshore structures, oil and gas 

 exploration and development, disposal of wastes at sea, and routing of ships. At 

 a larger scale, there is a primary need for cost-effective systems for ocean ship 

 routing, studies of air-sea interaction and its influence on climate change, and 

 analysis of environmental variability. 



ONR has historically supported, and continues to sponsor, a wide range of 

 hardware, software, and systems that might be a direct match to industr>' needs. 

 These activities include the design and development of oceanographic instrumen- 

 tation (e.g., acoustic ocean networks and modems, profiling current meters) 

 needed to measure physical, chemical, and biological parameters. They also 

 include the development and operation of systems for real-time global, regional, 

 and local predictive modeling capabilities. 



