to transmit the data to a shore station than 
to collect it by ship. When we consider how 
best to convert this line to telemeter data 
either on schedule or on demand to Waquoit, 
there can be little doubt that it will be done 
using the high frequency bands rather than the 
VHF bands. The number of units is too small 
to justify air cover and a satellite is out of 
the question. Even at several times the pres- 
ent sampling rate and several times the pres- 
ent number of buoys, an HF link is quite feas- 
ible, and we can use existing equipment which 
has already proven at least its capability of 
functioning at sea. 
At this point we must emphasize that we 
are attempting to describe a system which will 
be a tool useful and readily acceptable to the 
practicing oceanographer. I have made no men- 
tion of transducers, or of the transducer to 
surface link, or of the storage method. The 
design of the system must in no way dictate 
what the oceanographer should measure or how 
accurately he measures it, subject to the real 
technical limitations imposed by the state of 
the art. It is complicated enough and expen- 
sive enough to require a degree of standardi- 
zation of components, but it must be adaptable 
to a wide variety of measurements by the 
choice of specific transducers. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
The work discussed in this paper was 
made possible by support from the Office of 
Naval Research, Department of the Navy, under 
Contract Nonr 2196(00). 
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