197 



ority on improving the understanding of 

 sea-air interaction processes and use its 

 extensive capabilities in cooperation with 

 other Federal agencies, universities, and 

 foreign scientists to mount the needed 

 major field experiments. 



Scales of Motion 



As iidditional data describing near-sur- 

 face and deep ocean currents become avail- 

 able, it is found that the observed currents 

 have only a weak relation to the mean cur- 

 I'ents. Studies of the characteristics of these 

 motions have revealed that appreciable en- 

 ergy is involved on every space or time scale 

 that has been investigated. The problem is 

 fundamental to the ability, not only to un- 

 derstand oceanic processes in order to simu- 

 late these processes, but also to determine the 

 sampling interval required for ocean obser- 

 vation networks. Given the decision of the 

 Government to move forward with a major 

 ocean buoy development program, technol- 

 ogy will permit a major assault on the 

 problem. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Agency as rapidly as possible organize a 

 well-defined program to study oceanic 

 scales of motion. Such a study should be 

 one of the early foci for the test of the ele- 

 ments of the National Pilot Buoy Network 

 Project. 



Man's increasing dependence on food re- 

 sources from the sea and his growing ca- 

 pacity to modify the environment lend 

 urgency to the requirement for improved bi- 

 ological prediction. Accurate forecasts of the 

 abundance and distribution of major marine 

 biota must be made. Rates of production and 

 mortality and the interactions with the envi- 

 ronment must be predictable for development 



of new food resources, for evaluation of the 

 effects of man's modification of the environ- 

 ment, and as possible indicators for 

 monitoring and predicting the dynamics of 

 ocean interaction. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Agency (BCF) mount intensive research 

 efforts to provide the understanding of 

 oceanic processes and biological-physical 

 environmental relationships needed to de- 

 velop prediction capabilities. 



Environmental Modification 



Modification of weather and ocean condi- 

 tions by interference with natural environ- 

 mental processes is a growing reality which 

 the Nation is only beginning to confront. 

 Such modification can be inadvertent, result- 

 ing from such activities as the burning of 

 fossil fuels with its consequent effects on at- 

 mospheric temperatures and atmospheric 

 pollution, or it can be the result of man's con- 



Marine researchers and their 

 instruments must operate in an 

 cxtrctnely harsh environment, as 

 evidenced by this storm-damaged 

 surface float of a deep-anchored 

 current meter system. 



