one cpuld never be sure how tight various barrier patrol plans 

 actually were. 



In order that more data could be obtained from England 

 covering sightings in the Bay of Biscay, Coastal Command con- 

 sented to allow Dr. A. F, Kip to make a study of data collected 

 by the various anti-submarine air bases „ Dr„ Kip collected and 

 sent to Washington a sample of 529 sightings with all the per- 

 tinent data concerning altitude of planes, meteorological 

 visibility, range and bearing of first sighting, and so on. 

 In Washington, the material was put on punch cards and analyzed 

 statistically by Dr. Go E. Kimball who was responsible for many 

 of the theoretical developments In this field „ 



This statistical analysis showed how the average range of 

 first sighting was related to the prevailing conditions. One 

 further step was necessary before this empirical information 

 could he satisfactorily linked with fundamental theory, to 

 connect it with the physiological properties of the human eye 

 for visual search. This step was taken by Dr , E. S« Lamar, 

 who went to London and discussed the interpretation of the 

 British data with the members of Coastal Command's Operational 

 Research Group. Through them he was able to obtain physiolog- 

 ical data from the measurements of Craik and Macpherson of the 

 British Medical Research Council, This fundamental problem 

 has been more recently explored by Dr. Lamar in cooperation 

 with Professor Selig Hecht of Columbia University. 



As a result o£ these studies, it was shown that there was 

 a certain maximum range of vision for any given object, and 

 the dependence of this range on various factors was worked 

 out. The more complete theory extended to much smaller sized 

 objects, such as life rafts, periscopes and the like. Thus 

 as the result of the work of ORG, it can be said that the main 

 aspect of the fundamental problem of visual search for and 

 sighting of an object on the ocean from an airplane has been 

 solved. 



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