2 
COMMERCIAL AND 
OPERATIONAL 
USERS' PANEL 
REPORT 
Panel Chairman: 
Dr. James R. Haustein 
Contributors: 
Cheryl Beck 
Pimporn Chavasant 
Ruth Fay 
Leo Fisher 
Art Haworth 
Jack Hill 
Thomas Leming 
Jon Malay 
John Maloney 
Peter Mitchell 
Vince Noble 
Hal Palmer 
Evelyn Putnam 
William Siapno 
Jan Svejkovsky 
Ron Tipper 
Matthew Willard 
Background 
The diverse interests of commercial and operational 
users of remotely sensed ocean data include commercial 
fishing, marine transportation, ocean mining, offshore oil and 
gas exploration and extraction, hydrology, marine ecology, 
naval operations, and value-added products, such as 
"fisheries-aids’ charts. Satellite-acquired data on ocean 
phenomena from the experimental Coastal Zone Color 
Scanner (CZCS) and the operational Advanced Very High 
Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) have provided the basis for 
developing a number of important applications serving 
these interests. For example, the fishing industry has used 
data on sea-surface temperature, surface currents, and 
ocean color to improve catch efficiency, enhancing profita- 
bility. 
The marine-transportation industry uses remotely 
sensed ocean data primarily for ship routing. Ship-routing 
firms provide a route advisory to vessels being serviced 
prior to sailing via Telex and then update this advisory by 
satellite communications or marine radio every few days 
during the voyage. The goal of these services is to optimize 
the transit of a vessel, thus minimizing total cost. These 
costs include fuel, damage to equipment and cargo on 
board, crew injuries, delays due to adverse weather, and 
operating costs. Potential savings can be viewed in the 
light of the fact that between 600 to 800 larger vessels of 
the merchant fleet, occupied primarily in open-ocean trade, 
are en route each day. According to a recent unpublished 
study of approximately 25 voyages between the west coast 
of the United States and Japan from November to March, 
an average savings of over 20 hours per voyage were at- 
tributed to the use of ship-routing services. An improve- 
ment in the accuracy of weather prediction and the location 
of ocean currents and eddies would increase these sav- 
ings. 
The marine-transportation industry and the U.S. Navy 
also use ocean-current analyses and routine weather-chart 
analyses and prognoses for information on currents and 
visibility. These data products are disseminated either di- 
rectly via government services or are routed to users by 
