COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES 



I; 



war theaters, particularly near the Chinese QOrth- 



easl coast. 



3. A detailed experiment was considered desirable 

 in a region where stable temperature inversions were 

 produced in the atmosphere by subsidence of upper 

 layers of air. Such experiments were already being 

 conducted by the U. S. Navy Radio and Sound 

 Laboratory [NRSL] along several over-water paths 

 near San DiegO, California. 



4. An experiment near the Panama Canal Zone 

 was planned by the Navy in cooperation with the 

 State College of Washington group under Anderson, 

 to establish a correlation between meteorological 

 conditions of that region and radar performance. It 

 was expected that this would provide a good test of 

 equipment and methods under tropical conditions 

 and that the information obtained would apply in 

 other similar regions. 



5. An experiment was proposed to be conducted 

 in Florida, with the aid of Signal Corps and Air 

 Force personnel utilizing equipment already in the 

 area. It was expected that this project would yield 

 considerable information on means of predicting 

 propagation characteristics for localities climatically 

 similar. 



Meantime the Columbia University Division of 

 War Research Wave Propagation Group [CUDWR 

 WPG], directed by Prof. Attwood and operating 

 under contract OEMsr-1207, was preparing a report 

 on tropospheric propagation for radar operators, offic- 

 . ers, and other operating personnel, at the request of 

 the Combined Communications Board [CCB] and 

 Combined Meteorological Committee [CMC]. This re- 

 port, compiled from all established data on variations 

 in radar coverage available, was prepared in as non- 

 technical and popular a style as possible. It received 

 the approval of the Wave Propagation Committee 

 of the CCB, and about 30,000 copies were distributed 

 to the armed forces of the United Nations during 

 June 1944 under the title Variations in Radar Cover- 

 age (JANP-101). This report helped to clarify the 

 problem of nonstandard propagation for Service 

 personnel and to throw light on certain peculiarities 

 in radar performance and coverage variations caused 

 by newly discovered meteorological conditions (see 

 Chapter 16). During early 1944, a bibliography of 

 publications on propagation was prepared and 

 published by the CUDWR WPG. 



At a meeting on February 28, 1944, a direct request 

 from General MacArthur to NDRC was laid before 

 the Committee, which asked that a group of scien- 



tists be sent to Australia to study radar and commu- 

 nication problems in that area of the Pacific theater. 

 It was finally arranged that the communication part 

 of this request would be handled by the Signal 

 Corps and that the radar portion would be fitted 

 into the general research program already in process 

 of organization. 



Out of the series of meetings and conferences held 

 during February, a program of four principal points 

 was developed which was presented on March 4, 

 1944, to the Wave Propagation Committee of the 

 Joint Communications Board. This program was 

 accepted and put into effect soon afterward, as 

 follows. 



1. A working group under the direction of Dr. 

 Anderson proceeded to the Canal Zone to conduct 

 meteorological measurements in cooperation with 

 the Navy. Following completion of this work, the 

 group proceeded to Australia and performed similar 

 investigations as requested by General MacArthur. 

 This work was carried on under contract OEMsr-728, 

 with the State College of Wishington. Arrangements 

 were also made for training a group of about 20 

 Army and Navy officers in use of the meteorological 

 measurement technique and apparatus developed by 

 Dr. Anderson. These officers were later to be sent into 

 the field to organize teams for making meteorological 

 soundings. 



2. The Wave Propagation Group of the MIT-RL 

 under D. E. Kerr conducted a study along an over- 

 water path on the east coast of the United States, 

 as outlined previously. 



3. The NRSL investigation of propagation under 

 subsidence conditions was continued. 



4. Propagation conditions over land were planned 

 for study by Canadian Army research groups. Pre- 

 liminary discussions were held with these groups 

 early in 1944. 



On March 13, Dr. Burrows and Prof. Attwood con- 

 ferred with the staff of the NRSL in San Diego in 

 connection with the investigation of propagation 

 under subsidence conditions. The research was in- 

 tegrated into the general program and reported to the 

 Joint Communications Board [JCB] on March 29. 



As a result of this visit the NRSL agreed to modify 

 and expand its propagation research extensively to 

 include tests over a number of different paths, using 

 both one-way and radar transmissions, with simul- 

 taneous meteorological measurements. These experi- 

 ments were to be measurements of propagation on 

 three representative frequencies along a 108-mile 



