FOREWORD 
The Interagency Committee on Oceanography, under the 
direction of the Federal Council for Science and Technology, 
is responsible for developing annually a National Oceano- 
graphic Program to coordinate the efforts of all govern- 
ment agencies in meeting the long-range goals of the 
United States in marine science. Surveys at sea are an 
essential part of the national program, and it soon became 
apparent that there was a need for a unified plan for ocean 
surveys to provide an efficient means of obtaining the 
oceanographic data required by many users. 
The Ocean Surveys Advisory Panel of the Interagency 
Committee on Oceanography has prepared this National Plan 
for Ocean Surveys as a framework within which the specific 
survey program for each year will be formulated. The plan 
is a flexible one that will be modified as the requirements 
for marine data change and as a rapidly advancing technol- 
ogy produces increasingly better means of obtaining these data. 
The ICO is grateful to the several non-government 
scientists who offered advice and assistance in the prepar- 
ation of this plan. 
