184 



by the U.S. Navy of ocean temperature struc- 

 ture, sound propagation tactical indices, sea 

 state, and shifts in the location and flow of 

 certain major currents. 



Generally, the Commission concludes that 

 because of the magnitude of the effort to 

 monitor and predict changes in the oceans 

 and the atmosphere and because of the com- 

 monality of much of the science and tech- 

 nology, there must be a single system to ob- 

 serve the oceans and atmosphere and to pro- 

 vide data and forecasts to meet common 

 needs. Tliere is good precedent for combining 

 the oceanic and the atmospheric monitoring 

 elements. For instance, the Navy conducts 

 many of its weather and ocean forecasting 

 functions jointly at the Fleet Numerical 

 Weather Central, Monterey, California. Also, 

 ESSA provides both weather and marine 

 information on storm surges and sea state 

 through a single system and plans to use 

 weather satellites to observe oceanographic 

 parameters. 



The single system would provide data and 

 predictions describing large area character- 

 istics of the ocean and atmospheric environ- 

 ments. However, the Department of Defense 

 will continue to require a system to j^rovide 

 specialized outputs fully responsive to rapid- 

 ly changing militaiy requirements. 



Some environmental service requirements 

 are common to both civil and military users. 

 As the planned services to civil users are im- 

 plemented, some of the products of the civil 

 agency may meet these common needs. This 

 will free some military resources to concen- 

 trate on requirements unique to military 

 operations. 



Products designed for military users, if 

 they are appropriate and can be made avail- 

 able, will be used to meet requirements of 

 civil ixsers until services to civil users have 

 been expanded. This use of military prod- 

 ucts will be ad interim except in those cases 



in which common requirements can be met 

 most effectively and economically by their 

 continued use. 



Special consideration also must be given 

 to the relations between local detailed en- 

 vironmental activities and large area global 

 services. One example of special interest con- 

 cerns the myriad of activities in the Nation's 

 estuaries. Many local public agencies conduct 

 monitoring programs that include measure- 

 ments of physical, chemical, and biological 

 parameters to aid in controlling pollution 

 levels; in examining the effects of such pol- 

 lution on marine life; or in identifying fish 

 stock. These data should continue to be col- 

 lected by local agencies. 



The data collected in these local programs 

 will be on a scale considerably more detailed, 

 and often will be taken with greater fre- 

 quency, than is required to support the major 

 environmental prediction services considered 

 in this chapter. The behavior of an estuary, 

 however, is strongly influenced by the larger 

 motions of the oceans and the atmosphere. 

 For this reason, the local agencies conducting 

 estuarine-oriented programs must be ensured 

 rapid access to appropriate data collected by 

 the global network. 



The data collected and forecasts issued by 

 the single system would serve as major in- 

 puts to the more detailed forecasts and re- 

 sulting regulatory actions of the estuarine 

 agencies. On the other hand, the special data 

 collected (typically on a relatively fine grid) 

 witlain the estuary would not be required for 

 the operation of the single sy.stem. In some 

 cases, a single data collection station might 

 serve both a local estuary activity as well as 

 the single system. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 Nation's civil oceanographic monitoring 

 and prediction activities be integrated 

 with the existing national weather sys- 



