18 
information on which the program can be modified and upgraded 
to take advantage of new knowledge and technological advances 
as they become available. 
However, the urgent need for data from the world ocean 
does not allow postponement of the initiation of the program 
until specific instruments and systems under development are 
actually in hand. -Thus, cruises within the Ocean Surveys 
Plan have been started using existing instruments and will 
continue to use them until better .ones have been developed, 
tested, and found to be superior to those currently in use. 
Instrument test and calibration are especially important 
aspectgsof Ocean Surveys where many ships and - eventually - 
buoys will be collecting similar types of data which must be 
mutually compatible. An instrument test and calibration 
center, established by the Naval Oceanographic Office but 
available to other agencies,is in operation. Through this 
center and others which may be established, instruments and 
other equipment used in Ocean Surveys will be calibrated and 
tested. 
Intercalibration or standardization of observational 
and analytical techniques is an additional aspect which 
requires attention. Under the auspices of the National 
Academy of Sciences Committee on Oceanography, the equipment 
and techniques used by various government agencies and private 
institutions for the Winkler method of determining dissolved 
oxygen concentration in sea water have been examined with a 
view toward intercalibration. A similar evaluation of 
