Recommendation: 



The basic science effort required to achieve the 

 understanding of the planet (see Basic Science- 

 Key to Understanding Our Planet) should be 

 supported as a necessary National effort to provide 

 the basic geological and geophysical knowledge of 

 the oceans required for the National program of 

 marine mineral resource development. 



IV. ENVIRONMENTAL 

 PREDICTION 



MONITORING AND 



All groups using the oceans have a commonality 

 of needs for ocean and weather observations and 

 predictions. One would be hard put to identify 

 any marine activity not dependent upon such 

 services, or whose operations could not be safer 

 and more efficient if those services were improved. 

 National defense, marine transportation, offshore 

 gas, oil and mineral industries, fisheries, waste 

 management, the protection of life and property 

 along the shoreline, recreation— all have a vital 

 stake in it. The need for an environmental observa- 

 tion and prediction system, in fact, goes far 

 beyond marine interests, since the oceans are a 

 major determinant of the weather. Monitoring the 

 marine environment involves the measurement of 

 those environmental parameters which change 

 with time. The physical parameters of the ocean 

 and the atmosphere change and interact in com- 

 plex ways, contributing to changes in the chem- 

 istry and biota of the sea. 



The Panel Report, "Environmental Monitoring 

 and Prediction," considers in detail all aspects of 

 the problem. In particular, it points out that 

 significant improvements in our National ability to 

 monitor the marine environment can be achieved 

 by the appUcation of available technology to the 

 acquisition of data that describe the environment. 

 However, even when there is available a complete 

 description of the marine environment, the ability 

 to predict its future state will still be dependent on 

 the degree to which we understand the underlying 

 physical processes. 



Three major problem areas requiring immediate 

 expansion of basic research concern the inter- 

 change of matter and energy between sea and 

 atmosphere, the dynamics of ocean currents, and 

 the nature of the different scales of motion in the 

 sea. 



Figure 12. This surface platform is capable of 

 being moored in deep oceans, collects over 

 100 oceanographic and meteorological param- 

 eters, and can trasmit them to shore stations 

 2,500 miles away. (Navy photo) 



Recommendation : 



Extensive field experiments should be conducted 

 to describe physical processes associated with 

 ocean fluctuations. Parallel efforts in geophysical 

 fluid dynamics should be mounted which can 

 provide the theoretical and practical framework 

 for the establishment of physical techniques for 

 ocean prediction. 



The recommendation will be further elaborated 

 in the next three sections. 



A. Air-Sea Interaction 



Many aspects of research in air-sea interaction 

 are now beginning to receive attention. However, 

 much more remains to be done. The most obvious 

 interchanges between sea and atmosphere are 

 those of water, heat, and momentum. Careful 

 measurements of radiation, temperature gradients 

 in the lower atmosphere and upper layers of the 

 sea, precipitation and humidity in the air, salinity 

 at the sea surface, and the formation and break up 

 of sea ice, can lead to understanding of the 

 mechanisms of these major exchanges. 



1-33 



