Capabilities and Systems to Support Oceanocraphic Goals 



33 



G. Instrumentation 



The instrumentation requirements for the pro- 

 grams just described are generally similar — and 

 formidable. At the same time, technology and 

 engineering promise at last to provide much that 

 has long been lacking. They are, therefore, dis- 

 cussed together, although the funds planned for 

 them have been included in the agency budget 

 figures already given. 



It has been difficult to keep oceanographic 

 instrumentation in step with technological ad- 

 vances in other areas for two major reasons. One 

 is that the need for high precision while being 

 used in a very harsh environment places extreme 

 demands on a designer's skill. Temperatures 

 must be correct to the nearest .01 degree Celsius 

 and salinity to the nearest two parts in a hundred 

 thousand over pressure ranges from one to per- 

 haps 1000 atmospheres if density determinations 

 made from them are to be correct to the nearest 

 part in a million, as is required for the study of 

 some physical processes. Other instruments, such 

 as thermal probes to measure heat flow through 

 the sediments at the bottom, depth recorders, 

 sonic probes, plankton collectors, and audio- 

 visual devices for fish observations and surveys 

 and the like, have similar extreme demands on 

 their quality. 



The second reason for the archaic state of ocea- 

 nographic instrumentation is that this demand 

 for high quality is coupled with little demand for 

 quantity. As a consequence, there has been little 

 incentive for heavy investment in their develop- 

 ment by those industries most competent to ad- 

 vance the state-of-the-art. As a result, most in- 

 struments were originally designed, built, and even 

 manufactured in such quantity as needed by versa- 

 tile oceanogfraphers themselves. The numerous 

 Nansen devices, still in use after 50 years, the 

 bathythermograph, and the Ekman current meter, 

 are all examples, excellent of their kind yet hardly 

 to be compared in engineering sophistication 

 with recent products of the space industry. Te- 

 lemetering, data processing, communications, 

 and other back-up systems could all be improved, 

 as could almost every device now in use. 



Development during these next ten years is 

 expected to emphasize increased speed and ef- 

 ficiency of standard measurements rather than 

 the creation of devices for obtaining new types 

 of information. In addition to automating many 



of the shipboard procedures now carried out 

 tediously by hand, the Navy, Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Coast 

 Guard, and the Weather Bureau are seeking 

 automated fixed stations for sensing and trans- 

 mitting oceanographic data remotely on a routine 

 basis. 



Instrumentation tor marine biology has lagged 

 even farther behind than that for other aspects 

 of marine science, and particular effort will be 

 made to develop more satisfactory plankton re- 

 corders, sampling gear, and underwater camera 

 and television equipment. A so-called "param- 

 eter follower" is being sought by several agencies. 

 This device, intended to be towed or self-pro- 

 pelled, would sense a given concentration of one 

 parameter and remain within it while recording 

 variations in others. It is expected to be particu- 

 larly helpful in fish migration studies, simulating 

 some of the important behavior patterns of mi- 

 grating fish. 



Moored buoys with strings of current meters 

 for obtaining extended records at a given point 

 have been in use for several years. The present 

 models require retrieval in order to obtain the 

 data, and this has proved both time consuming 

 and unreliable. Developing moored buoy systems 

 to accommodate a variety of instruments and 

 telemeter data first to the surface and then to 

 shore stations, aircraft, or satellites has therefore 

 been an attractive possibility. The Office of Naval 

 Research has been conducting a systems study 

 program for the last two years on various con- 

 figurations and alternatives. 



These studies have determined an optimum 

 size and configuration for a system capable of 

 telemetering data at the rate of 300 bits per minute 

 on an intermittent schedule with high reliabil- 

 ity over a distance of 2500 miles while remaining 

 unattended for up to a year. Prototypes are under 

 construction together with a shore command sta- 

 tion, mooring techniques are being developed, and 

 oceanographic sensors are being designed. A com- 

 plete buoy system should be available at the end of 

 about two more years. The program is being 

 guided by an advisory committee of the ICO con- 

 sisting of research oceanographers as well as ex- 

 perts in buoy technolog^y and representing private 

 institutions as well as the Navy. This development 

 program is estimated at about $3 million. 



Other smaller buoys for specialized purposes 

 have been developed with ONR support at both 



