NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 57 
Even so, there has arisen from our meetings and from our increased 
communications with one another an awareness of additional and un- 
solved problems in the area of review and coordination of instrumenta- 
tion research and development especially. 
For example, the matter Mr. Rogers mentioned about choosing 
priorities and critically reviewing each Department’s instrumentation 
and facilities programs. I think it would be a mistake for us to come 
before this committee and indicate that we have accomplished the 
ultimate in striking priorities or critically reviewing programs. I 
think all of us and all of the panels are still struggling mightily with 
the problem of both reviews and priorities. However, as a first step, 
we have improved communications between departments and labora- 
tories in the field. 
For example, Mr. Chairman, in the case of instruments, many of 
us feel, and in fact perhaps all of us feel, that greater interagency co- 
ordination in standardization and calibration of instruments is needed, 
first on a national scale and ultimately, [ might add, on an interna- 
tional scale. 
I could give as an example the Indian Ocean where ships of many 
nations have been engaged in physical and biological oceanographical 
research. If the measurements they obtain are going to be useful in 
plotting physical and biological properties of the Indian Ocean and 
studying the way these currents affect the living organisms of the 
ocean, obviously the instruments used to take these measurements 
must be calibrated one with another. 
Ii good calibration or standardization of measurements is not 
achieved, then it is very difficult to combine the data from the ships 
of various nations. Therefore, this matter of inter-calibration and 
standardization of equipment and methods is of extreme importance 
in multiship operations. 
We have not been totally successful, even in our country, in this 
regard, but I would offer for the committee that we have been so much 
more successful than we ever have been in the past that our progress is 
good. But, it is our aim to go a good deal further in the field of 
standardization and calibration of instruments. 
I believe planning for future instrumentation and facilities research 
and development has progressed very well. We have plans developed, 
not only for this year and next year, but tentative plans for several 
years. These are not firm, hard plans, yet, Mr. Chairman, but on the 
whole they show interest by all agencies engaged in ocean research to 
get together and to think about problems of instrumentation and fac- 
ilities in the future. 
f course, we are being pressed to do the job better by current 
limitations of our budget. I am sure that the efforts will stimulate 
us to even greater efforts. 
I mentioned the matter of improved communications as being one of 
the greatest accomplishments of our panel on instrumentation, and 
I think other panel chairmen would say the same thing in other fields 
of oceanography. The matter of knowing what the Navy and the 
Coast Guard plus various private and university laboratories are 
doing in the field of instrumentation is of the utmost importance and 
She Oe time and effort of highly skilled scientists in all agencies 
involved. 
