466 
G. Instrumentation 
The instrumentation requirements for the pro- 
grams just described are generally similar—and 
formidable. At the same time, technology and 
engineering promise at last to provide much that 
has long been lacking. They are, therefore, dis- 
cussed together, although the funds planned for 
them have been included in the agency budget 
figures already given. 
It has been difficult to keep oceanographic 
instrumentation in step with technological ad- 
vances in other areas for two major reasons. One 
is that the need for high precision while being 
used in a very harsh environment places extreme 
demands on a designer’s skill. Temperatures 
must be correct to the nearest .01 degree Celsius 
and salinity to the nearest two parts in a hundred 
thousand over pressure ranges from one to per- 
haps 1000 atmospheres if density determinations 
made from them are to be correct to the nearest 
part in a million, as is required for the study of 
some physical processes. Other instruments, such 
as thermal probes to measure heat flow through 
the sediments at the bottom, depth recorders, 
sonic probes, plankton collectors, and audio- 
visual devices for fish observations and surveys 
and the like, have similar extreme demands on 
their quality. 
The second reason for the archaic state of ocea- 
nographic instrumentation is that this demand 
for high quality is coupled with little demand for 
quantity. As a consequence, there has been little 
incentive for heavy investment in their develop- 
ment by those industries most competent to ad- 
vance the state-of-the-art. As a result, most in- 
struments were originally designed, built, and even 
manufactured in such quantity as needed by versa- 
tile oceanographers themselves. The numerous 
Nansen devices, still in use after 50 years, the 
bathythermograph, and the Ekman current meter, 
are all examples, excellent of their kind yet hardly 
to be compared in engineering sophistication 
with recent products of the space industry. Te- 
lemetering, data processing, communications, 
and other back-up systems could all be improved, 
as could almost every device now in use. 
Development during these next ten years is 
expected to emphasize increased speed and ef- 
ficiency of standard measurements rather than 
the creation of devices for obtaining new types 
of information. In addition to automating many 
33 
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
of the shipboard procedures now carried out 
tediously by hand, the Navy, Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Coast 
Guard, and the Weather Bureau are seeking 
automated fixed stations for sensing and trans- 
mitting oceanographic data remotely on a routine 
basis. 
Instrumentation for marine biology has lagged 
even farther behind than that for other aspects 
of marine science, and particular effort will be 
made to develop more satisfactory plankton re- 
corders, sampling gear, and underwater camera 
and television equipment. A so-called “param- 
eter follower” is being sought by several agencies. 
This device, intended to be towed or self-pro- 
pelled, would sense a given concentration of one 
parameter and remain within it while recording 
variations in others. It is expected to be particu- 
larly helpful in fish migration studies, simulating 
some of the important behavior patterns of mi- 
grating fish. 
Moored buoys with strings of current meters 
for obtaining extended records at a given point 
have been in use for several years. The present 
models require retrieval in order to obtain the 
data, and this has proved both time consuming 
and unreliable. Developing moored buoy systems 
to accommodate a variety of instruments and 
telemeter data first to the surface and then to 
shore stations, aircraft, or satellites has therefore 
been an attractive possibility. The Office of Naval 
Research has been conducting a systems study 
program for the last two years on various con- 
figurations and alternatives. 
These studies have determined an optimum 
size and configuration for a system capable of 
telemetering data at the rate of 300 bits per minute 
on an intermittent schedule with high reliabil- 
ity over a distance of 2500 miles while remaining 
unattended for up to a year. Prototypes are under 
construction together with a shore command sta- 
tion, mooring techniques are being developed, and 
oceanographic sensors are being designed. A com- 
plete buoy system should be available at the end of 
about two more years. The program is being 
guided by an advisory committee of the ICO con- 
sisting of research oceanographers as well as ex- 
perts in buoy technology and representing private 
institutions as well as the Navy. This development 
program is estimated at about $3 million. 
Other smaller buoys for specialized purposes 
have been developed with ONR support at both 
