64 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
tion and coordination in these areas by the entire oceanographie community, and 
(3) to coordinate the development of shoreside facilities. 
The investment in oceanographic instrumentation has grown substantially in 
recent years. You might ask, ‘Why do we require this new equipment and what 
are we doing with it?’ The present-day scientists requires new and sophisticated 
instruments to determine the nature of the seas and their boundaries, to eonduct 
work on and in the seas and to exploit them more effectively. For his studies 
the scientist needs samples of the water, the bottom, and marine life. He re- 
quires new instruments to investigate special phenomena, such as weather, earth- 
quakes, and tsunamis, and the effects of storms on our shores. An understand- 
ing of these will lead to a keener comprehension of the forces at work on our 
planet, improved prediction and warning networks, and eventually, possibly, 
some control. The latter will not be easy to accomplish. Military, construction, 
and other engineers are using a great variety of new instruments in an immedi- 
ately practical way to defend our shores and shipping lanes, to build bridges, 
worldwide cable networks, tunnels, and to drill oil wells, to fish, navigate, sal- 
vage, search, and rescue, to secure our coasts from erosion, and to protect life 
and property against the sea. 
It is often necessary to wrestle heavy gear and equipment over the side, in all 
types of weather, sometimes at the risk of the instruments, and indeed of life 
and limb. So they must be exceedingly durable and able to withstand such 
hazards. Many times the available equipment cannot measure as precisely as 
desired, or its reliability cannot be depended upon. For example, scientists of 
the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries compared tuna food caught in a net to that 
found in the tuna stomachs. They found little correlation between what the 
tuna has eaten and what the net has collected. Why? Improper sampling tech- 
niques may have been used—the tuna food organisms can avoid the net. More 
accurate plankton nets and midwater trawls must be designed, and this is being 
done. 
A geologist samples the bottom of the ocean. He brings up a few pounds of 
material containing a valuable mineral. How representative is this sample of 
that section of the bottom? At present the answer is expensive to obtain. 
We had difficulty in locating the Thresher which sank in deep water. Navy’s 
search and rescue operations require an entirely new and specialized field of 
instrumentation. The Public Health Service, concerned with pollution, must 
detect and measure very dilute amounts of pollutants, such as pesticides and 
radioactive materials. This requires very exact methods and specialized instru- 
mentation. 
The master of a passenger vessel wants to make the quickest and safest pas- 
sage possible. Which route would be optimum for avoiding adverse currents, 
sudden storms, or heavy seas? We must have instruments that will give us 
instantaneous observations of weather and ocean conditions for large areas of 
the oceans. Both reports and predictions are necessary. 
(These are just a few of the reasons why oceanographers go to sea, and why 
they need instruments. The immediate need for accurate and reliable instru- 
ments is great. Improved instruments that require less maintenance, less at- 
tention, and perform several operations at the same time, will release scientists 
from routine tasks and make their hours more productive. Automation has 
barely come to oceanographic instrument design. 
These are some of the problems that have occupied us, Mr. Chairman. I hope 
to tell you briefly some of the ways we have gone about solving them, what we’ve 
accomplished, and what we’re planning for the future. 
PANEL MEMBERSHIP 
All Government departments and agencies having an interest in oceanographic 
instrumentation are represented on this Panel. Liaison with non-Federal scien- 
tists is maintained through observers from the National Academy of Sciences’ 
Committee on Oceanography. In general, the Panel members are the top instru- 
ment specialists of their organization. 
For the record, present membership of the ICO Instrumentation, Hquipment, 
and Facilities Panel is as follows: 
Army: Coastal Engineering Research Center, observer, Leo C. Williams. 
Atomic Hnergy Commission, Arnold B. Joseph; alternate, Dr. John N. Wolfe. 
