X88 



tional Aeronautics and Space Administra- 

 tion (NASA) for satellite oceanographic 

 sensor development and operation along 

 lines similar to those established for the 

 national weather satellite system. 



A Program for Immediate Improvement 



Important advances have been made in the 

 past decade in data collection equipment and 

 platforms, and several second generation 

 systems are under development which prom- 

 ise dramatic improvements in our ability to 

 observe the total environment and to process 

 and transmit the resulting data. 



It is not yet possible, however, to envision 

 the complete composition of a total system. 

 The proper mix of platforms and instru- 

 ments must be evaluated on the basis of 

 performance and cost. 



However, opportunities exist for immedi- 

 ate improvement in the Nation's environ- 

 mental monitoring and prediction systems at 

 relatively modest cost. The present ability 

 to analyze and predict sea surface conditions 

 is limited by the scarcity of surface ocean and 

 weather observations. 



The vast majority of these reports are made 

 by merchant ships cooperating in the World 

 Meteorological Organization's (WMO) in- 

 ternational weather observing program. It is 

 estimated that for a given day there are 

 seven ships at sea for each ship's observation 

 received. Clearly, more data could be received 

 by increasing the number of ships in the 

 WMO cooperative program. This program 

 can be expanded at low cost. 



The Navy's program in the analysis and 

 prediction of ocean thermal structure is also 

 data-limited. Of the 125 bathythermographic 

 recordings taken daily, the majority are pro- 

 vided by naval vessels, with some from ships- 

 of-opportunity in a cooperative Navy-Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries program. Addi- 



tional ocean temperature data could be col- 

 lected by expanding these programs quite 

 inexpensively; this effort should be tailored 

 to overcome at least some of the omissions 

 in data coverage. 



In addition to the temperature data in the 

 oceans' near-surface layers, broader coverage 

 is required of the lower layers of the atmos- 

 phere, now limited by the relatively few ra- 

 diosondes launched by ships. The radiosonde 

 observations are taken from numerous U.S. 

 Navy commissioned ships; from the U.S. 

 Coast Guard ocean station vessels; and by 

 about 15 ESSA teams aboard a limited num- 

 ber of Military Sea Transport Service, 

 ESSA, and merchant ships in the Pacific. 

 Additional ships could be outfitted with rela- 

 tively inexpensive shipboard equipment to 

 expand this upper air sounding capability. 

 There are great areas of the world's oceans 

 that are not covered, or at best, are sparsely 

 covered, by merchant ships. The WMO is 

 investigating the possibility of obtaining 

 reports from world fishing fleets in these 

 areas. One direction for expansion of this 

 program, therefore, should be the inclusion 

 of ships not now participating — particularly 

 such fishing fleets as those of Japan, Taiwan, 

 and Korea. 



In certain coastal areas and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, platforms have been erected for the 

 extraction of oil and natural gas ; at present 

 a limited number of offshore platforms are 

 instrumented to provide environmental data 

 for major forecasting programs. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 ship-of-opportunity program be expanded 

 immediately to provide more surface 

 ocean and weather reports, additional 

 ocean temperature structure data, and 

 more wind soundings. In particular, ves- 

 sels operating in regions not covered by 

 major merchant vessel trade routes should 



