Eapid development of interest in oceanography, and serious con- 

 cern about our deteriorating environments, forecasts sharply increased 

 demands on funds for biological aquatic science. In particular, it is 

 anticipated that a series of extensive studies will be initiated in fiscal 

 year 1989 designed to clarify some of the puzzles of productivity in 

 natural waters. The main emphasis probably will be on estuaries. Here, 

 as in lakes, the environmental variety is great, productivity and popu- 

 lation densities are high, and access is relatively simple. Some of the 

 projects will deal with pollution in estuarine waters ; others will evalu- 

 ate the results of modification of estuarine environments. 



For the past several years, the National Science Foundation has 

 supported two unique training and research programs for graduate 

 students. One of the programs is centered on the west coast at Stanford 

 University and the other on the east coast at Duke University. In each 

 case, a fully equipped oceanographic ship operates on a year-romid 

 basis in an extensive series of research cruises. In effect, the students 

 learn the techniques and principles of oceanographic research by under- 

 taking full-scale projects at sea. Several hundred young scientists 

 already have received firsthand experience aboard the RV Te Vega 

 and the RV Eastward. 



Another imique facility is embodied in the RV Alpha Helix., the 

 only ship in the world designed specifically to meet the needs of marine 

 physiological research. The Alpha Helix is owned and operated by 

 the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and supported wholly by the 

 National Science Foundation. It has completed two major expedi- 

 tions, one to the great barrier reef of Australia and one to the Amazon 

 River Basin. Approximately 120 scientists from all parts of the Nation 

 have already participated in the Alpha Helix cruises. 



Physical oceanography has been significantly enhanced in the past 

 few years by advances in technology. The approach made possible by 

 sophisticated equipment, improved buoys and floats, better ships and 

 increased teamwork among the disciplines involved — geology, physical 

 oceanography, electronics, chemical oceanography, and biology — has 

 improved our ability to solve problems of currents and water masses 

 and their effects on sediments and sediment transport, the evolution of 

 ocean basins, the development of current systems, and the interaction 

 of ocean and atmosphere. Many previously accepted concepts are being 

 reexamined and refined. 



Recording buoys and floats with miniaturized electronic systems 

 for the measurement of ocean currents, temperatures, salinities, and 

 other parameters over long periods of time make it easier to trace 

 the major world water currents. The analytical chemical devices em- 

 ployed allow the oceanographer to measure these parameters con- 

 tinuously. 



The possibility of synoptic measurements of ocean surface phenom- 

 ena from aircraft and spacecraft is emerging. Radar, infrared- 

 radiometry and multispectral analysis are now being used to deter- 

 mine sea state, differences in temperature, water mass boundaries, and 

 currents. Water depths have been charted from Gemini color photo- 

 graphs and by use of multispectral analysis. Continuously recording 



