32 



Oceanography — The Ten Years Ahead 



harbor areas from wave-attack, and in providing 

 navigation channels and harbors in the coastal 

 area, while the Weather Bureau issues warnings 

 of the occurrence of dangerous conditions from 

 storms. Both will continue their research pro- 

 grams at about present levels throughout the 

 decade. This is expected to amount to about $16 

 million for the Corps of Engineers and to be slight- 

 ly under $3 million for the Weather Bureau. 



In the Pacific, the tsunami warning service of 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey will be improved 

 and expanded as part of an international pro- 

 gram to extend the greatly needed warning to 

 other areas of the Pacific; Further research will 

 also be undertaken in an attempt to learn to fore- 

 cast the wave heights as well as times of arrival. 

 The Coast and Geodetic Survey plans to allocate 

 about $1 million to this effort in the coming decade 

 in a cooperative venture with other nations. 



2. SAFETY OF OPERATIONS AT SEA 

 (1.2 Percent 1963-1972 Effort) 



The traditional responsibility of the Coast Guard 

 for maritime safety and the maintenance of navi- 

 gational aids at sea has always led to activities 

 of g^eat use and value to oceanography. While 

 conducting the International Ice Patrol and such 

 regulation enforcement operations as the Bering 

 Sea Patrol, and while conducting icebreaking 

 operations in the Arctic, its ships have usually 

 accommodated scientists from other agencies 

 and laboratories and carried oceanographic and 

 meteorological instruments of various sorts. It 

 was especially fitting that in the Fall of 1961 the 

 Coast Guard's charter was formally amended 

 to authorize the conduct of oceanograpMc re- 

 search within the agency itself, in relation to its 

 mission. During the coming decade, its program 

 will support work in connection with such diverse 

 goals as ocean survey program, inshore surveys, 

 studies of ocean waves and swells, ice in the sea, 

 oceanographic forecasting, radioactivity in the 

 oceans, and oil pollution of navigable waters. Two 

 new oceanographic ships and much new instru- 

 mentation represent major requirements for their 

 expanded role. Their oceanographic budget is 

 expected to run about $28 million over the ten 

 years. 



As to promoting safety at sea, the chart and 

 map service of the Naval Oceanographic Office 

 and the Coast and Geodetic Survey are of vital 



importance. Additionally, they serve as the neces- 

 ary base maps for other scientific investigations. 

 These products, and the surveys to provide the 

 data on which they are based will be continually 

 improved and updated throughout the period. 



F. Services (12 Percent 1963-1972 Effort) 



These will be described in more detail in the 

 next chapter. They are mentioned here as im- 

 portant activities in support of the entire oceano- 

 graphic community from which all benefit in 

 common. Although a smaller fraction of effort 

 during the next decade than at present, they do 

 in fact represent an expansion over the present 

 program. Much of this expansion is in the Ocean 

 Survey Program conducted by the Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey primarily in association with the 

 Navy but with participation of the Coast Guard, 

 the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the Geo- 

 logical Survey, and the Weather Bureau. The 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey will require eight new 

 ships and the Navy four for this operation. Buoys, 

 also under development for the ocean survey 

 program, could add greatly both to the effective- 

 ness (and probably to the cost) of the program if 

 they are successfully developed and optimally 

 employed. 



An oceanographic forecasting service for non- 

 military use may come into the program during 

 this period. Its costs and requirements cannot 

 yet be estimated. It would presumably benefit 

 from — and probably resemble — the Navy's AS- 

 WEPS program. 



The National Oceanographic Data Center, 

 already an integral part of the national communi- 

 ty, will continue at a slightly expanded rate, and 

 a new facility, the Naval Oceanographic Office 

 Instrumentation Center, recently established by 

 the Navy, will function to some extent in support 

 of the entire community. In advancement of the 

 concept of coordinated effort, the oceanographic 

 units of a number of federal agencies have moved, 

 or are in process of moving to a three-acre area 

 in the Washington, D. C. Navy Yard Annex. 



The Interagency Committee on Oceanography 

 feels that there may be a need for one or more 

 interagency marine centers where interdisciplinary 

 programs beyond the capacity of single agencies 

 could be carried on. No firm plans for such centers 

 exist as yet, however. 



