MARINE SCIENCE 45 



ship of the late Dr. II. U. Sverdrup means of predicting on a day-to- 

 day basis the characteristics of the surf on a given beach were quickly 

 worked out and were used with great success during the latter half 

 of the war. 



It is now fairly evident that other types of environmental forecasts 

 of the three dimensional characteristics of large areas in the deep ocean 

 could play a vital part in the success of any future war at sea. From 

 the technical standpoint such forecasts seem quite feasible and a good 

 beginning is being made to establish such a service at the Hydro- 

 graphic Office. A large bonus can be expected from the oceanographic 

 data gathering network that is now envisioned. It can undoubtedly 

 contribute much to improved long range weather forecasting. 



Oceanographers and meteorologists are eager to gain the sorts of 

 understanding that will permit reliable predictions of what will take 

 place in both mediums. The Navy is making rapid progress in un- 

 derstanding how their operations can be made more efficient in this 

 way. 



As we sit here this morning, four of our small ships are conducting 

 the most ambitious piece of research that has ever been attempted in 

 support of a marine environmental forecasting service. The com- 

 bined scientific parties total about 45 experienced men. The cost of 

 this operation is roughly $10,000 a day and it will last for nearly 3 

 months. 



The last time that we attempted any such operation was nearly 9 

 years ago and it has taken until now before we could be certain that 

 we could improve significantly on these earlier preliminary results. 



Besides the four ships, there is a plane acting as the weather permits, 

 as the quarterback of the operation. The plane has means of observ- 

 ing sea-surface temperature. It transmits this information to the 

 ships and they are employed accordingly to develop the third dimen- 

 sion of the observed surface temperature distribution over an area 

 extending from southern New England nearly to Bermuda and east- 

 ward as far as the Grand Banks. 



This is the beginnings of synoptic oceanography. Day before yes- 

 terday I was briefed on the results of the first 10 days of the operations 

 and they are mighty encouraging. But only a handful of people in 

 the country know that this is going on and fewer still understand its 

 full significance. 



If theoretical considerations that we have good reason to expect to 

 be correct are confirmed by this large and expensive operation, then 

 an airplane and a few carefully instrumented buoys can continue to 

 monitor this whole large area and we can know what part of the ocean 

 is doing day by day. 



This is both scientifically exciting and an important part of the 

 problem of detecting and destroying enemy submarines equipped with 

 ballistic missiles. I am sorry that I can't enlarge on this statement. 



This operation has been made possible through the cooperation of 

 several agencies, both governmental and private. The cooperation 

 between the fellows who are working actually at sea today or in the air 

 or beneath the seas, the cooperation is excellent. Even the pilots of 

 the planes are willing to expend some of what they call their wife's 

 gasoline in order to assure the success of the operation. 



