FOREWORD 



The papers presented in this document represent the results of a sympo- 

 sium on oceanographic instrumentation held at Rancho Santa Fe, California on 20 

 to 23 June 1952. 



This symposium is one of a type which the Office of Naval Research and 

 the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council have at intervals 

 jointly sponsored in various of the earth sciences. It has been the plan of these 

 meetings to include as participants only those workers who are deeply engrossed 

 in the subject at hand so that there may be assembled in one place, or in one 

 published document, the current agreements or disagreements on problems of a 

 particularly difficult or timely nature. 



We regret that it has been necessary to hold these meetings in places of 

 limited access, and to restrict the attendance to participants. Experience has 

 proved, however, that large audiences are distracting as are centrally located 

 points of convening where there are always many things to do in addition to at- 

 tending a conference. Thus, mountain tops, resorts out of season, and the 

 desert have been chosen as locales for these working symposia. 



Throughout the past 10 years the subject of oceanographic instrumenta- 

 tion has always been important and timely, and it is likely to continue as a grow- 

 ing field of endeavor with new electronic and mechanical devices being invented 

 almost daily. It is important to oceanographers that these instruments do not 

 become lost < v forgotten in the press and flow of new and better equipment. 

 Much of the instrumentation does not find its way into the normal scientific liter- 

 ature. Practically all of its description is hidden away in reports of limited 

 distribution. It is hoped that this publication will in part rectify the situation 

 and make available to a large audience the results of several years of oceano- 

 graphic instrumentation development. 



The Office of Naval Research appreciates deeply the friendly cooperation 

 of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council and the excellent 

 manner in which the Rancho Santa Fe symposium was arranged. Our special 

 thanks are extended to John Isaacs of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and 

 COD. Iselin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the tedious and 

 time-consuming task of collecting and editing the papers. We are indebted to 

 Dr. R.C. Gibbs and John Coleman for the detailed work of organizing the meet- 

 ing and supervision of publication. 



Gordon G. Lill 

 Geophysics Branch 

 Office of Naval Research 



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