We wish to acknowledge the editorial assistance provided by The 

 Environmental Science and Information Center (ESIC), one of NODC's 

 co-organizations within NOAA's Environmental Data and Information 

 Service; we especially acknowledge the assistance provided by Evelyn 

 Liddel of ESIC, who not only entered the text of both the second and 

 third editions into machine-readable form but provided valuable sug- 

 gestions in formatting the text. 



Despite the best efforts of all who contributed to it, however, 

 this publication still has its shortcomings. For these we ask the 

 readers' indulgence. We apologize to our foreign readers for the 

 damage done their languages by the absence of diacritical marks. The 

 word processor available to us, however, latked this capability. We 

 are also acutely aware that the rush of scientific progress leaves any 

 compilation such as this in its wake, forever struggling to keep pace. 

 We hope that people who find this publication useful will help us keep 

 it accurate and up-to-date. If we have overlooked an acronym or mis- 

 interpreted it, please correct our mistake by writing the National 

 Oceanographic Data Center, NOAA/EDIS D7822, Washington, D.C. 20235. 



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