threat, radioactivity disposal and fallout, resource development, 

 weather prediction, applied and basic research and survey opera- 

 tions have a common denominator: They all require accurate 

 measurement of some kind of parameter in the ocean environ- 

 ment. 



As I have stated, a large number of Government agencies 

 have vital interests in the oceans. Brief sunnmaries cannot 

 adequately describe their work, but I believe that some mention 

 should be made in terms of their particular interests in the marine 

 environment. 



The Departnnent of Defense, with its complex military opera- 

 tions above the sea, on the sea, and under the sea, urgently needs 

 much more detailed knowledge about the ocean than is presently 

 available. Submarine developments during the last few years have 

 made this dramatically clear. 



The responsibilities of the Department of the Interior require 

 an understanding of physical and biological effects of the marine 

 environment on the living resources of the sea. The improvement 

 and extension of fishery prediction techniques will help to extend 

 and improve domestic and distant sea fisheries, and the know- 

 ledge so gained will lead to a more controlled and productive har- 

 vest. Fisheries are assuming increasing importance in inter- 

 national relations, and particularly through the avenue and the 

 vehicle of oceanography. 



Within the Department of Commerce, the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey is nnaking a major contribution to the national effort through 

 its participation in oceanwide survey programs. Of equal 

 significance are the comprehensive coastal survey operations under- 

 taken to acquire knowledge on the characteristics of our near -shore 

 environment. At the surface of the seas, the ocean of air and the 

 ocean of water exert profound influences upon one another. The 

 Weather Bureau is engaged in research to improve our knowledge 

 of these conditions, and now has operational automatic monitoring 

 stations. I might add also, the whole problem of interchange of 

 energy between the atmosphere and the sea is a most important 

 area with which we should be seriously concerned in the region of 

 instrumentation. 



