94 THE NAVY OCEAN ENGINEERING PROGRAM 



HYSURCH system will provide a hydrographic survey unit with the capa- 

 bility for ready acquisition and display of sounding data. A contoured 

 hydrographic chart will be available for distribution to the fleet within one 

 week after such data acquisition. 



AERIAL SURVEY TECHNIQUES 



A comprehensive project for water depth determination and recording of 

 ocean bottom detail by employing aerial color photography as a remote 

 sensor has been continued. Aerial color photography was obtained over a 

 test range established in the Key West, Florida, area in March 1967. These 

 films showed bottom detail to a depth of 65 ft. The accuracy with which 

 water depths can be measured by photogrammetric techniques will be 

 determined. Preliminary results indicate that blue hght is a deterrent to 

 sharp image formation and good contrast in water penetration photog- 

 raphy. Future studies will use narrow band filters to eliminate the blue 

 light and obtain photography with only green and red light. Development 

 of a new color emulsion that has no blue-sensitive layer may provide a 

 means for greater water penetration with aerial photography. Tests with 

 the narrow-band fiOlters and such a new color emulsion wiU determine the 

 spectral quality of light that will yield considerable detail at deeper depths 

 than was formerly possible. 



AUTOMATION OF CHART PRODUCTION 



The demand for charts and special products of all kinds has increased 

 steadily in recent years as a direct result of the rapid increase in numbers of 

 ships and aircraft and in their performance capabilities. The solution to 

 production problems was found in the employment of high-speed com- 

 puters, not only for computational purposes, but also for preparation of 

 input data into automated cartographic production systems. 



The initial steps to automate cartographic production were taken in 

 1960, when development was begun on a precision automatic digital co- 

 ordinatograph system. The first such system was placed in operation in 

 the Naval Oceanographic Office in June 1963. The system is capable of 

 drawing, scribing (engraving), or photographically exposing continuous 

 straight or curved lines; printing numerical data with a mechanical print 

 head; and photographically exposing alphanumeric data on large sheets of 

 sensitized film. A director unit processes the information supplied to it 



