FOREWORD 



Our generation faces two great challenges to our innate curiosity about the 

 place in which we live, the exploration of space and the understanding of our global 

 ocean. These two endeavors are considered by many as completely dissimilar -- even 

 competing -- activities when, in fact, they are in many ways quite similar. Both acti- 

 vities entail the exploration of an environment hostile to man. Both have that magic 

 element of excitement that accompanies most of man's attempts to push back the frontiers. 

 Both call for ingenuity and new technology, and both, unfortunately, are very expensive. 

 It is especially for this last reason that it is gratifying to see attention being paid 

 to utilizing the techniques developed in space exploration for furthering our under- 

 standing of the sea. 



The great contributions made so far to our understanding of the dynamics of 

 the sea have come primarily from data obtained by oceanographi c research ships. The 

 advent of the space era does not remove the need for scientists to go to sea -- hope- 

 fully this will never be removed. It does, however, provide us for the first time the 

 ability to "see" great reaches of the ocean at one time and to consider features and 

 processes on an almost global scale. The oceanographer , enamoured as he is with his 

 ships and his work at sea, has been slow, even reluctant at times, to capitalize on 

 the space program to provide information on the sea that could not even be considered 

 a decade ago. But for many oceanographers this earlier reluctance has given way to 

 an eagerness to get instruments up where they can see more and to develop new instru- 

 mentation to provide new knowledge of the sea. Earth orbiting satellites can fill 

 thi s need . 



The Joint NOAA-NASA-NAVY Conference held on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, 

 October 6-8, 1971, brought together scientists from a broad range of specialities to 

 look specifically at the use of remote sensors on spacecraft for providing new and 

 needed information on the upper surface of the ocean. It was an exciting conference 

 to attend. It should be equally so to read for those who could not be there in person. 



The Atlantic Oceanographi c and Meteorological Laboratories were pleased to 

 act as host organization and to publish the Proceedings as one of its technical 

 reports . 



Harris B. Stewart, Jr. 



Director 



Atlantic Oceanographi c and 



Meteorological Laboratories 



n 



