schedule. This plan must insure that the program will actively sup- 

 port projects of high priority and primary interest. 



The opportunities for collecting useful oceanographic informa- 

 tion have often been more limited by the lack of proper instruments 

 to sample the environment than by the availability of a vessel 

 from which to sample. The initial cost of such a vessel and the 

 operating expense greatly surpasses the expenditure required for 

 proper instrumentation. Therefore, it is very clear that we must 

 provide this instrumentation in order to make better use of these 

 ships as information collectors. 



In carrying out our mission over the years we have obtained a 

 large nunnber and variety of commercially available oceanographic 

 survey instruments. The majority of these are nonstandard, not 

 very reliable, and are seriously limited when it comes to rapid 

 sampling in a manner compatible with machine processing of 

 collected data. During recent years the Hydrographic Office has 

 had the problem of supplying survey vessels with modern oceanog- 

 raphic instrumentation. This task has been extremely difficult for 

 two reasons. One, reliable, sophisticated, and connnnercially 

 available oceanographic instrumentation is practically nonexistent, 

 and, two, the funds for researching and developing such instru- 

 mentation have been extremely limited. Our modern survey pro- 

 gram calls for shipboard instrumentation that can be relied upon and 

 that can be operated by technician class personnel rather than 

 engineers. The funds that are available must be applied to the re- 

 search and development of properly designed instruments and to 

 the production engineering of these devices for use on a relatively 

 large number of ships. The constant upgrading of instrumentation 

 of poor basic design is a costly and ineffectual solution to the 

 problem. Accuracy of measurement, reliability, ease of opera- 

 tion, and difficulty of maintenance are factors to be seriously weigh- 

 ed before going from prototype to production. An instrument of 

 lesser accuracy and more reliability may often be suitable at con- 

 siderably less expense. Similarly a device which is easy to oper- 

 ate but requires constant maintenance is impractical. 



Later in the program other speakers will discuss the details 

 of our requirements for instruments. The important fact to be kept 

 in mind at all times is the urgent need to provide present and future 

 ships with reliable tools for collecting oceanographic information. 

 Such information is vital to the aims of the worldwide survey 



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