Figure 19. Launching free-drifting buoy with 

 temperature and salinity sensors in the Pacific, 

 as part of BCF program. Data are transmitted 

 to shore station by radio. (Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries photo) 



satellite. The Navy also has an air-droppable 

 drifting buoy in an early development stage. 



Among buoy types being considered for the 

 future are a steel spar buoy, and a hght sphere 

 floating like a "beachball" on the ocean surface. 

 Another possibility is a large rugged balloon 

 partially filled with helium which could be equip- 

 ped with a version of the electronics package 

 under development for constant-level atmospheric 

 balloons; its position on successive satellite passes 

 would yield integrated surface wind data.' 



III. REMOTE PLATFORMS 



Among the most dramatic developments is the 

 ability to collect useful ocean data from a remote 

 vantage point. Earth-orbiting satellites have 

 demonstrated an operational capability to provide 

 global cloud photographs; they have now demon- 

 strated a capability to collect and transmit useful 

 oceanographic data. The satellite is also useful as a 

 data communication relay. Aircraft have been used 

 to test satellite sensors, and have also demon- 

 strated an independent capability to collect ocean- 

 ographic data. 



A. Aircraft Observations 



The instrumented aircraft, operated in its own 

 right and as a test bed for satellite instruments, has 

 demonstrated its usefulness as an oceanographic 

 data collection platform.* The Coast Guard uses 

 aircraft in ice reconnaissance. The Navy has had 

 considerable experience in flying an instrumented 

 aircraft. The instrumentation has included an 

 infrared device (8- to 13-micron region) to sense 

 sea surface temperatures. Field accuracies of 

 approximately one-half degree Centigrade have 

 been reported. Recent developments include an 

 infrared thermometer that operates outside the 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is using 

 drifting telemetering buoys in the North Pacific. 

 At present two buoys are instrumented to measure 

 temperature, depth, and salinity; drift and current 

 are measured by obtaining successive buoy posi- 

 tions. In experiments to date radio direction- 

 finding bearings have been used to track the buoys, 

 and data transmission has been successful up to a 

 range of 900 miles. Consideration is now being 

 given to tracking the buoys and relaying data via 



Panel on International Meteorological Cooperation, 

 National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, 

 The Feasibility of a Global Observation and Analysis 

 Experiment, NAS-NRC, Washington, D.C. (1966). 



Much of the experience in aircraft observation of the 

 oceans has been conducted by NASA, and other agencies, 

 in support of satellite programs; these activities are 

 described in sateUite technology. A useful compendium of 

 aircraft/spacecraft oceanographic data collection experi- 

 ments is provided in a report prepared for the National 

 Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Develop- 

 ment: The Potential of Observations of the Ocean From 

 Spacecraft, The General Electric Company Missile and 

 Space Division, December 1967. 



n-41 



