PREDICTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT 93 



Polar Area Operations Support, which includes ice forecasts 



Space Vehicle Recovery Operations and Search, Rescue 

 and Salvage Operations Support, which includes sea con- 

 dition forecasts and current forecasts. 



Sea Surveillance Operations Support, which includes sound 

 velocity forecasts, sound ray path forecasts, wave and swell 

 forecasts, and ice forecasts. 



Some of the foregoing support is developed by use of computer 

 programs. As time and computer program developments allow, 

 more specific support for the Operating Forces will be provided. 

 Additional data for all oceanographic parameters are needed to 

 realize the successful employment of such programs. The product 

 list which depicts the computer program efforts of Fleet Numerical 

 Weather Facility Monterey is quite long. Programs there 

 include wave analyses and forecasts; ocean thermal structure 

 analyses; analyses and forecasts of sea surface temperature, 

 mixed layer depth, sonic layer depth, thermocline magnitude and 

 gradient, transient thermoclines, and temperature at standard 

 depths; "Zoom" programs (detailed small scale features); tem- 

 perature and sound speed profiles; plus sound propagation loss, 

 convergence zone range, and other sonar forecasts. 



For the future, a corps of highly motivated scientific personnel 

 within the Naval Weather Service Command and the Naval 

 Oceanographic Office are working toward the development of 

 more extensive programs to better satisfy Fleet requirements. 

 Additionally, they are striving to develop new programs to auto- 

 mate existing manual data processing programs in order to 

 provide completely tailored products for the Operating Forces. 



