. INTRODUCTION 



The impetus for the NOAA-NASA-NA VY Conference on Sea Surface Topography 

 from Space was largely due to two forthcoming spacecraft that bear on the problem: 

 SKYLAB and GEOS-C. Each vehicle is to carry an X-band radar altimeter; SKYLAB in 

 addition has a rather comprehensive sensor package designed for observing earth 

 resources in the visible, infrared, and microwave frequency regions. 



The Conference was devoted to the subjects of geodesy and oceanography, 

 the two topics being intimately related through the distortions that a dynamic, 

 moving ocean introduces on the geoid as measured with a precision altimeter on an 

 accurately tracked satellite. In a very real sense, the geodescist's noise is the 

 oceanographer ' s signal. This relationship was recognized and exploited at the 

 conference held at Williams College in August 1969, the report of which recommended 

 the development of a 10-cm precision altimeter for space use, among other things. 



As defined for purposes of the present Conference, "sea surface topography' 

 denotes ocean surface features ranging from capillary waves through gravity waves, 

 swell, setups, geostrophic slopes, geoidal undulations, and tides, in order of 

 increasing wavelength. The meeting addressed itself to the problems of measuring 

 these undulations from spacecraft or aircraft using radar or laser instrumentation. 

 As such, it brought together, at Key Biscayne, Florida, specialists in geodesy, 

 oceanography, space science and space technology. The interdisciplinary features 

 of the problem proved especially stimulating to the attendees, not only because of 

 the implications which the subject has for each discipline, but because of the 

 social relevance (to use a current shibboleth) which the research possesses. It 

 appears possible, for instance, to ultimately use radar systems in space to provide 

 all-weather monitoring and prediction of surface winds, sea state, current systems, 

 and perhaps even hurricanes and storm surges. These functions are probably a 

 decade off, but the impact on the welfare of man is obvious. 



John R. Apel 

 Chai rman 



XI 



