MARINE SCIENCE 117 



Recently a plan to establish such a center at Suitland, Md., physically adjacent 

 to the U.S. Hydrographic Office but linanced and administered cooperatively by 

 the Navy, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Science Foundation has been 

 proposed. In our opinion, such a center could meet the main objectives outlined 

 in the preceding paragraph, that is, service to the public, and avoid unnecessary 

 duplication of facilities. Accordingly our chapter 4, Defense Applications, (soon 

 to be published) states: 



"The U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office has accumulated what is perhaps the 

 world's largest collection of hydrographic data. The Office provides many im- 

 portant services to the Navy and on a low priority basis to civilian agencies and 

 institutions. We believe that by emphasizing the development of oceanogi-aphic 

 forecasting techniques, by participation in systematic oceanographic and hydro- 

 graphic survey programs and through the development of an expanded data 

 facility (cooperatively managed and financed by the Navy, the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the National Science 

 Foundation) the contribution which this Office could make to naval, national, 

 international, and scientific interests would be greatly enhanced. We heartily 

 endorse and encourage the steps which are being taken in this direction." 



Harrison Brown, 

 Chairman, Committee on Oceanography. 



(The following statement was submitted for the record:) 

 Statement of Dr. Charles M. Proctor, Bellevue, Wash. 



I am pleased to have been invited to submit a statement in connection with 

 the hearings on S. 2692 for the support of marine sciences. The views presented 

 here are my own, as an oceanographer, and are not a statement of views or 

 policies of the Boeing Airplane Co. where I am employed. 



The NAS-NRC Committee on Oceanography has presented a comprehensive, 

 10-year program for expanded research in the ocean and connecting waters at 

 an estimated cost of $65 million per year. This estimate is based on current 

 prices and it is hoped that the probability of rising costs will be considered 

 when a final, long-term budget is prepared by the Congress. 



The major goal of an expanded program of marine research should be to 

 attain a better understanding of the aqueous portion of our planet, without 

 regard for financial return. It is inevitable, however, that any significant ex- 

 tension of knowledge of the sea will be of direct and often immediate benefit to 

 fisheries, coastal and offshore engineering, weather and climatological fore- 

 casting, shipping, naval operations, and other marine activities. 



If, for example, we assume that the results of this program were to indirectly 

 increase the effectiveness of our submarine fieet by only 5 percent (this is surely 

 a very conservative figure), then this entire proposed expenditure for research 

 would yield as great a return in fleet effectiveness as a similar amount spent 

 for new construction alone. This increased effectiveness would also be realized 

 in lower requirements for personnel and support functions. 



Among the major needs of oceanography in the United States are : 



1. Efficient ships, with adequate operating budgets. 



2. Reliable, sensitive instruments for in situ measurements and improved 

 sampling devices. 



3. Data recording, reduction, and processing systems which are compatible 

 with the instruments and with modern computers. 



i 4. Additional shore facilities including well equipped research laboratories. 



5. An expanded program of academic grants that will attract many more 

 graduate students of high caliber into the marine sciences. 



The sole purpose of the ships, instrvunents, sampling devices, and laboratories 

 is to provide the oceanographer with a description of the environment and to 

 provide data with which to test his theoi'ies and to predict the future state of 

 the oceans. The goal is thus to make observations and reduce them to iisable 

 form in the most expeditious manner. In the realm of physical measurements 

 particularly, it is now possible to consider the entire problem, from sensing ele- 

 ment to final calculation, as a data flow system. The technology exists, part of 

 it in such diverse fields as medical research, oil well logging, communication 

 theory, and missile telemetry. The job now is to translate these data and skills 

 into a compatible system. 



