252 



near land its characteristics are very significantly changed. That 

 means if we were to carry out our activities near land it would be 

 very difficult for us to tell whether what we did was really the cause 

 of what happened or not. So we want to do it over the open ocean. 



Mr. Rogers. Will you let us know for the record what area you are 

 operating in, what equipment you have to operate, and how many 

 people are involved? What is your total budget, in round figures? 



Dr. White. The total budget for the organization, and this is based 

 upon the House allowance this year because we have not gone com- 

 pletely through our Senate process yet, I think is $165 million, sir. 

 I can give you the exact number for the record. 



(The information requested follows :) 



The former prescribed operating area — which limited hurricane seeding to a 

 strip of the southwestern Atlantic between Puerto Rico and Bermuda — has been 

 enlarged and modified. Instead, Project officials will rely on official Weather 

 Bureau forecasts of hurricane tracks and positions in selecting storms in the 

 southwestern North Atlantic for experimentation. Under the new criteria, a 

 hurricane in the southwestern North Atlantic will be considered eligible for 

 seeding as long as there is a small probability (10% or less) of the hurricane 

 center coming within 50 miles of a populated land area within the ensuing 24 

 hours. 



The change in criteria should permit seeding exepriments to be conducted in 

 a greater number of storms. During the 1965 and 1966 hurricane seasons, no 

 storms suitable for seeding moved through the geographical area then prescribed 

 for the experiment. Under the new criteria, two storms would have been eligible 

 each of these two years. 



Aircraft involved in Project Stormfury include four specially instrumented 

 lanes of ESSA's Research Flight Facilitity (RFF). The two DC-6's, one C-54. 

 and one WB-57 all based at Miami, Florida, monitor the experiments by record- 

 ing numerous meteorological observations from 1,500 feet to 40,000 feet. Approxi- 

 mately 100 ESS A employees are involved in hurricane research, some 10 of the.se 

 are concerned primarily with the modification of hurricanes. 



In addition to the ESSA aircraft, the Navy provides ten planes for the actual 

 seeding operations. 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, FISCAL YEAR 1968 

 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST— TOTAL ESSA BUDGET VERSUS MARINE ENVIRONMENT PORTION 



[In thousands of dollars] 



Budget activity 



All ESSA appropriations 



Requested House 

 allowance 



Senate 

 report 



Marine environment distribution 



Requested House 

 allowance 



Senate 

 report 



Weather forecast and warning services 89, 



River and flood prediction and warning services. 4, 



Earth description, mapping, and charting 14, 



Hydrographic and oceanographic services 24, 



Telecommunications and space services 7, 



Envoronmental data services 5, 



Environmental satellite (R. & D.) 2, 



Satellite operations - 32, 



Engineering support 1, 



Retired pay, commissioned officers _ 1, 



ESSA total 182, 



476 163, 050 



87,440 1,220 508 2,173 



4,060 _. 



13,568 896 596 773 



22,690 24,603 20,482 22,690 



6,936 



5,108 297 259 305 



2,566 100 



28,100 



922 439 221 221 



1,013 - 



172,403 27,555 22,066 26,162 



Mr. KoGERS. I notice in the Council report, in the breakdown on 

 oceanography, they have the Department of Commerce listed for $36 

 million for fiscal 1968. Does this include salaries ? 



Dr. White. That was our request to the Congress, Mr. Chairman. It 

 includes $8.5 million for the Maritime Administration effort in trans- 



