1070 
(Dr. Austin’s complete statement follows :) 
STATEMENT OF THOMAS S. AUSTIN, DirREcTOR, NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC 
Data CENTER 
Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity of appearing before you 
today to discuss the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) and some of 
my personal views in light of the recommendations of the Commission on Marine: 
Science, Engineering and Resources and H.R. 13247. 
The NODC was established by an interagency agreement on December 23, 1960. 
The Center’s basic mission is to receive, compile, process, preserve and dissem-- 
inate appropriate oceanographic data submitted to it. 
The Center’s operations are funded by reimburesements from participating 
agencies. Management and partial financial support of the NODC are furnished 
by the Naval Oceanographic Office as amplified by the policies and procedures es-- 
tablished by the National Oceanographic Data Center Interagency Advisory 
Board. 
The Interagency Advisory Board was established to provide an effective means: 
of formulating, expressing and transmitting joint pelicy and technical direction 
to the Center. The Board consists of representatives of the Sponsoring agencies. 
These agencies are: Navy, National Science Foundation, Bureau of Commercial: 
Fisheries, Atomic Energy Commission, Coast Guard, Coastal Engineering Re-. 
search Center, Geological Survey, Health, Education and Welfare, Environmental 
Science Services Administration, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Ad- 
ministration. In addition there are two non-voting members appointed by the- 
National Academy of Sciences and three observers, one from industry, one from 
the National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, and 
one from the National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center. 
As provided for in the charter, each supporting activity provides a pro rata 
share of the estimated cost for acquiring, compiling, and preserving oceanographic: 
data by the Center. An amendment of the pro rata shares was made to the NODC 
charter in FY 1964; the pro rata shares are now reviewed annually. A summary 
of funds available to NODC for F'Y’s 1968-70 is shown in Table 1. 
It should be noted that the funds provided are for the operation of the Ganges 
the contributing agencies, like other users, are provided services at cost. 
Although no disastrous limitations in funding have occurred, I feel that the 
current method of budgeting is clumsy and has negated efficient planning. Agen- 
cies have not always found it possible to contribute to the Center at the level 
recommended by the Advisory Board. Single-agency, line-item funding has been: 
suggested. 
During the 86th Congress, bills calling for the establishment of a National 
Oceanographic Data Center were introduced in the Senate (S. 2692) and in the: 
House of Representatives (H.R. 12018). These bills would have included in NODC 
certain types of marine environmental data that we co not store: specifically : 
fisheries, hydrographic and coastal survey, meteorological, and geophysical data. 
But in keeping with their missions other agencies have been designated as re- 
positories for these data. The Naval Oceanographic Office and the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey retain hydrographic (bathymetric) data; the Weather Bureau, 
meteorological and climatological records: and the Bureau of Commercial Fish-. 
eries, fisheries statistics. Geophysical data reside in several agencies. 
The Commission has not undertaken to prepare a detailed proposal for national 
marine data service activities. Instead it deferred to a study by the System De-- 
velopment Corporation. Unfortunately, this study is not yet completed. However. 
in the framework ofthe present hearings I would like to comment on some of the 
aspects of marine data management. I should emphasize that the views I am: 
about to express are substantially my own, tempered by years of involvement in 
marine sciences. Quite possibly, program managers and representatives of agen- 
cies performing missions that generate or require marine data will have different 
views. ; 
The oceans are a potential source of protein and mineral resources. Knowledge: 
and experience dictate that these resources are not unlimited and that sound 
management policies should be developed. This requires the use of existing data 
and information and adequate planning for the continued generation and anal-. 
yses of such data. 
Although oceanography is a relatively new science, man is becoming increasingly 
aware of the necessity to consider the oceans, or segments thereof, in their total- 
