262 



NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



corresponds to our portion of the support of UNESCO and of other specialized 

 intergovernmental organizations. The ocean survey program of the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey is in fact the U.S. program of ocean surveys, and we will 

 modify the program as necessary to take into account any commitments made 

 by the Government in support of the international effort to achieve these same 

 goals. In the meantime, the Coast and Geodetic Survey will pursue the program 

 as though it alone were to he the sole agency to accomplish the task. 



The goals can be achieved only by providing 295 ship-years of survey work at 

 sea plus the manpower and shore facilities to process, analyze, publish, and dis- 

 tribute the information. There are, however, alternative means for accomplish- 

 ing this. One ship could work for 295 years, but this is tacitly ridiculous in 

 the light of the urgency for the surveys. The present plan calls for a total of 

 nine ships for the ocean survey program programed as shown in table I. As- 

 suming that each ship will put in the full season on this program and that the 

 first full year of operations for each ship is the year following its planned de- 

 livery date, then the United States 30 percent of the world ocean survey can be 

 accomplished by 1979, the total program by the year 2002. This is detailed in 

 table II. Provision can be made, however, for contracting out part of the work, 

 should the urgency of completing the task require more facilities than the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey could provide in time. 



Table I. — Coast and Geodetic Survey oceanographic sMphuilding program 



[Dollars in mDlions] 



1 Replacement for Pioneer. 



Table II. — Ship-years available for ocean survey program 



« 9 (et seq.). 



2 30 percent of the total job. 



3 This assumes a 1-for-l replacement as ships become obsolescent. 

 ♦ Total job. 



The calculation of 295 ship-years is based on underway surveys at 10-nautical- 

 mile .spacing plus 10,000 oceanographic stations. One alternative is that at least 

 part of the information to be gained from the station observations can be ob- 

 tained at less cost i>er unit of data and the information would he more meaning- 

 ful if oceanographic buoys were used. This phase is still in the very early stages, 

 and the worth of buoy observations still needs to be evaluated. The plan, there- 

 fore, calls for an early evaluation of buoys as oceanographic data collectors. 

 The major problem with buoys is that the oceauographers themselves are not yet 

 sure of just what the range and spectrum of variations are that exist in the 

 ocean. The plan is to set out a small network of buoys to measure the whole 

 range of variables on a very small scale as a starter. Once this network has 

 determined what is there to be measured and how the various parameters vary 



