262 



was subordinate to the seismic-gravity profile which was obtained in 

 most instances from a towed platform 1,500 feet behind the vessel and 

 all processed data reflects the platform position, not the towing vessel 

 on which the depth information was generated. AH position and depth 

 data would therefore have to be reprocessed" by the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, utilizing the original raw data on magnetic tape. As you can 

 see, the acquisition of data that must be reprocessed would further 

 overload our presently inadequate processing system, but would not 

 overload the automated system we propose to acquire and implement. 



Mr. Drewry. On page 14 of your statement, you said : "Observa- 

 tions from 800 merchant ships are received daily * * *" Would you 

 elaborate on this statement ? What is the procedure for the collection 

 and transmission of the observed data ? Are you referring to 800 par- 

 ticular ships? Are they American, foreign, or both? What is the ex- 

 tent of the observations ? 



Dr. White. The 800 ships referred to in the statement are actually 

 the average number of weather reports received daily by the Weather 

 Bureau from weather reporting ships of all nations while in the west- 

 ern North Atlantic and eastern north Pacific. These weather messages 

 are coded reports showing ship's position, time, hydrometers (rain, 

 fog, and so forth) wind, temperature of air and sea, dewpoint, baro- 

 metric pressure, visibility, and state of the sea surface (wave and 

 swell). 



American ships reporting include merchant marine. Navy, Coast 

 Guard, Military Sea Transport, commercial fishing vessels as well as 

 from Coast and Geodetic Survey and other research vessels. The 

 800 reports mentioned include messages sent at the four 6-hour syn- 

 optic map periods and special observations sent during storms. These 

 messages are sent by radio by the ships to commercial and Government 

 coastal radio stations which relay them by landline to NMC, Suitland, 

 Md., and WBAS, San Francisco. There the reports are grouped in 

 collectives and transmitted to all Weather Bureau offices on the Service 

 C teletypewriter circuit. 



Weather Bureau communications centers also transmit the collection 

 of ship weather reports to the meteorological service of other nations 

 over international weather teletypewriter circuits; likewise the 

 Weather Bureau receives ship collectives from other countries over 

 the same channels. 



Mr. Drewry. What is the present status of the oceanwide survey 

 program recommended in the original National Academy of Sciences' 

 Committee on Oceanography report? And subsequently, under guid- 

 ance in the 100 ? 



Dr. White. The oceanwide surveys plan appears as chapter 9 of 

 "Oceanography 1960 to 1970," published in 1960 by the Committee on 

 Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences (NASCO). This 

 plan, with minor differences, bears the title "National Plan for Ocean 

 Surveys" in pamphlet No. 7 of the Interagency Committee for Ocean- 

 ography, published in May 1963. The descriptive acronym SEAMAP 

 (for Scientific Exploration and Mapping Program) was later coined 

 for the program. 



