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ational requirement for more detailed mete- 

 orological data over tlie Caribbean and the 

 Gulf of Mexico. The data collected should be 

 used both to support day-to-day forecast ac- 

 tivities and to test mathematical models and 

 hurricane modification hypotheses. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 data networks that support the Hurricane 

 Warning Service be expanded. This service 

 should be accorded high priority to take 

 advantage of the latest technical and 

 operational developments. 



In reviewing the Federal programs, we find 

 that iceberg observation services are useful 

 and effective with regard to ship routing in 

 the North Atlantic, but capabilities for pre- 

 dicting iceberg motion and sea ice distribu- 

 tion still are very limited. A fundamental 

 lack of understanding exists in regard to the 

 transfer of heat and stress from the air above 

 and the water below to the ice interface. Pre- 

 dictions of the subsequent motions and de- 

 formation of sea ice require an improved 

 capability to forecast the wind near the ocean 

 surface. Since it is important to study ice 

 during the long polar nights and under ad- 

 verse cloud conditions, sensor imagery inde- 

 pendent of these restrictions acquired by air 

 and satellite remote sensors is a requirement 

 for rapid advances in the understanding of 

 sea ice dynamics. 



The Commission recommends expansion 

 of research efforts to improve sea ice fore- 

 casting and remote sensing of glacial and 

 sea ice to yield improved models of the 

 formation, growth, drift, deformation, and 

 disintegration of different ice types. 



A Government-wide plan for systematic 

 impi-ovement of marine weather services, pre- 

 pared by the Office of the Federal Coordina- 



tor for Meteorological Services and Support- 

 ing Research, has been reviewed by the 

 Commission. It proposes steps to bring our 

 marine weather services in line with national 

 needs by : 



• Establishing marine forecast centers and 

 systems for radio facsimile and radio tele- 

 phone broadcasts of marine forecasts 



• Instrumenting additional ships-of-oppor- 

 tunity and installing automatic stations 

 and telemetering equipment along the coast 

 to obtain weather, tide, and ocean data 

 from locations where it is not feasible to 

 use cooperative observers 



• Installing additional weather radars 



• Providing specialized support to military 

 users 



• Extending the range of broadcast facilities 

 for transmitting environmental informa- 

 tion to ships on the high seas. 



The Commission endorses the existing 

 Federal Plan for Marine Meteorologi- 

 cal Services and urges its early imple- 

 mentation. 



Improvements in our capability to 

 predict hurricanes are urgently 

 required if the United States is 

 to defend itself better against 

 destructive forces of storms like 

 Hurricane Betsy, tvhich left 

 tumbled homes along the Rhode 

 Island coast in 1965. 



