see Chapter 7.) Although river flow monitor- 

 ing and prediction activities were nominally con- 

 sidered outside our purview, we do wish to note 

 the major programs of the Geological Survey in 

 the Department of the Interior, and ESSA's 

 hydrology program in the Department of Com- 

 merce. 



The Geological Survey operates more than 200 

 stations at which river inflow to estuaries and 

 other coastal Waters is measured; it obtains water 

 quality measurement at more than 100 coastal 

 stream sites. The Survey is engaged in the measure- 

 ment of sediment discharge into, and of sediment 

 movement within, many estuaries. It has de- 

 veloped an operational technique for calculating 

 the flow in an estuary from records of tidal stages 

 and other data. Programs conducted in coopera- 

 tion with several States provide for measurement 

 of several physical parameters in estuaries and 

 near-shore zones. ESSA operates additional river 

 flow stations and also uses data from Geological 

 Survey stations; it also uses rainfall and other 

 meteorological data to provide daily river flow 

 forecasts for the Nation. Many local and State 

 agencies operate similar programs. 



IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES 



The principal industrial oceanographic forecast- 

 ing activity is in ship routing, as extensions and/or 

 principal activities of the meteorological forecast- 

 ing services provided by industrial consultants. At 

 present, firms in San Francisco, New Orleans, 

 Houston, New York, Baltimore, and Washington 

 provide ship-routing forecasts. The west coast 

 operation prepares forecasts for Atlantic and 

 Pacific crossings and involves communications 

 with the ships during transit. The New Orleans 

 firm specializes in forecasts for tugs towing off- 

 shore platforms for oil exploration and provides 

 services for the Gulf of Mexico, transits to Africa, 

 Europe, and Hudson Bay. In the latter case 

 forecasts include ice conditions. Several of these 

 commercial operations include specially tailored 

 services, with the forecasters dealing not only with 

 a shipping line but directly with the masters of the 

 ships for whom they are forecasting. In certain 

 cases their forecasts may be used, not only for 

 routing of the ships, but to determine such other 

 factors as freight loading, harbor conditions, etc. 



In addition to industrial ocean wave forecast- 

 ing/ship routing activities, there are isolated in- 

 stances of "one-man" oceanographic forecasting 

 programs in private industry. Several construction 

 firms make use of forecasts of near-surface 

 thermohaline conditions, sea-swell-surf conditions, 

 etc. provided by consultants on an "as-needed" 

 temporary basis. 



In general, there appears to be little industrial 

 activity in forecasting thermohaline structure, tide, 

 current, or ice movement. However, several private 

 meteorological-oceanographic consultants possess 

 the capabilities necessary for producing detailed, 

 small-scale, local forecasts of these and other 

 parameters. A group of oil companies is embarking 

 on a major data collection program in the Gulf of 

 Alaska to provide information on extreme condi- 

 tions for oil-drilling platform design criteria and 

 mean values for logistic planning.' 



V. OTHER NATIONS 



Major foreign oceanographic forecasting activi- 

 ties are government-sponsored and most fre- 

 quently operated to meet military requirements. 

 For example, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense 

 Force provides operational forecasts of thermo- 

 hahne structure (including sea-surface temperature 

 and thermal layer depth) and wave conditions for 

 Japanese waters. 



The Japanese issue fishing forecasts and report 

 catch data and related environmental data on a 

 world-wide basis. Fish catch forecasts are made 

 seasonally and for shorter periods. Many ships in 

 the fishing fleet are instrumented to record en- 

 vironmental parameters, and these data are re- 

 ported to home bases. The dissemination of 

 forecasts is implemented by the "All Japanese 

 Federation of the Fisheries Association.""' 



The British Naval Weather Service has an 

 operational thermal structure forecasting program 

 similar to ASWEPS. The Canadian Ocean Services 

 for Defense, operating out of the Bedford Institute 

 for Oceanography, Nova Scotia and Nanaimo, 

 British Columbia, provides operational, long- and 



Blake, F. G., testimony at panel hearing. 



"'Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 

 Nations, Advisory Committee on Marine Resources Re- 

 search, Report ofACMRR Working Party on Fisherman's 

 Charts and Utilization of Synoptic Data, FAO Fisheries 

 Reports No. 41, Supp. 2, Rome, Jan. 16-21, 1967. 



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