NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 161 
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA CENTER 
WASHINGTON 25, D.C. 
Code 2000-WCJ/cal 
18 October 1963 
To: Dr. Je Herbert Hollomon 
Chairman, Interdepartmental Committee 
on Atmospheric Sciences 
U. S. Department of Commerce 
Washington, De. Ce 20230 
Dr. James H. Wakelin, Jr. 
Chairman, Interagency Committee on Oceanography 
U. S. Department of the Navy 
Y Washington, De C. 20350 
Dear Dr. Hollomon and Dr. Wakelin: 
I am writing to you on a matter of considerable urgency which I 
hope can soon be resolved in the national interest. 
The importance of the investigation of air-sea processes has been 
repeatedly emphasized by atmospheric scientists and oceanographers 
who have been conducting research in these interdependent fields. 
Atmospheric scientists and oceanographers are agreed that an aug- 
mented and coordinated program for investigating the processes of 
air-sea interaction should be one of the major objectives in the 
field of geophysics during the next decade. If oceanography and 
meteorology are to progress significantly beyond their present 
states of development, it is essential that further knowledge 
be gained of the exchange of energy, momentum, and material sub~ 
stances across the air-sea interface. 
The 1962 report of the National Academy's Joint Panel on Air-Sea 
Interaction (NAS-NRC Publication 983) emphasized the need for 
further investigation into the processes of the air-sea interactions 
In response to this need, a joint ICO/ICAS Ad Hoc Panel on Ocean- 
Atmosphere Research was established under my chairmanship: (1) to 
study the problem, (2) to recommend an Ocean-Atmosphere Research 
Program, and (3) to prepare a budget for this program for FY-1965 
and the years immediately following. The Panel submitted a first 
draft of its report in March 1963, and presentations on the sub- 
stance of the report have been made to the ICO, ICAS, and the 
35-377 O—64——_12 
