62. How are oceanographic observations taken beside from a 

 ship? 



Because oceanographic ships are expensive to operate, difficult to 

 anchor in deep water, and limited in speed, continuous observations in 

 one location and surface observations over wide ocean areas can best be 

 accomplished by means other than ships. 



Buoys have been used for many years to obtain measurements of 

 surface and subsurface currents and temperatures, as well as to observe 

 meteorological conditions. These observations were mostly made near 

 shore because of the difficulties in deep-sea anchoring and long-distance 

 radio transmission. More recently other measurements have been in- 

 cluded, such as of salinity and waves. 



There is increasing interest in setting up networks of moored buoys 

 which would transmit oceanographic and meteorological information 



by radio or satellite relay. The NOMAD (Navy Oceanographic 

 Meteorological Automatic Device) buoys have withstood hurricanes and 

 therefore supplied timely and useful data which could not have been 

 collected by ships. 



FLIP (Floating Instrument Package) is a hybrid ship-buoy. It is 

 towed in the horizontal position to its location, where ballast tanks at 

 one end are flooded, thus flipping it to the vertical position. FLIP 



74 



