ABSTRACT 



RAPLOT II is a computer program for processing radiation and naviga- 

 tion data from field surveys of the Radioisotopic Sand Tracer (RIST) study, 

 but is applicable to any survey type operation on the nearshore Continental 

 Shelf. Collected data are punched onto paper tape by the data collection 

 computer on the research vessel. The data are later transferred to mag- 

 netic tape which provides the input for the RAPLOT II Program. Program 

 control parameters are on punched cards. The navigation data, which con- 

 sists of ranges to two shore-based radar beacons, are first edited for 

 spurious data, and then converted to rectangular coordinates (in this case 

 the California Lambert Coordinate System) . Radiation data are converted 

 to count rate as counts per second. Background count rate is computed 

 and subtracted from the observed count rate, and any radiation counts that 

 are significantly above the background count rate are corrected for time 

 of decay since the isotope was injected. Output from the program is in 

 three forms - printed output, graphical output, and magnetic tape record. 

 The processed data are transferred to magnetic tape and made available for 

 further processing such as the generation of contour maps. 



FOREWORD 



CERC Miscellaneous Paper 2-69, Radioisotopic Sand Tracer Study, Point 

 Conception, California, reported the early results of the RIST study. This 

 study is part of Contract AT(49-ll)-2988 between the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission and CERC. Other participants in this continuing multi-agency study 

 are the Oak Ridge National Laboratories of the Atomic Energy Commission; 

 U. S. Navy Pacific Missile Range; U. S. Air Force (Western Test Range, First 

 Strategic Aerospace Division); U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles 

 District office; NASA (Nuclear Systems and Space Power Division), the State 

 of California (Department of Water Resources) and U. S. Army Mobility Equip- 

 ment Command. The study involves the collection and analysis of an enormous 

 amount of data. Computer processing is the only means by which these data 

 could be handled. 



Philip A. Turner, a geologist, developed the original RAPLOT program 

 and prepared this report. The work was done under the general supervision 

 of David B. Duane, Chief, Geology Branch, and George M. Watts, Chief, En- 

 gineering Development Division. CERC continues to refine data processing 

 and improve the printed and graphic output which consists of maps drawn by 

 an incremental plotter. 



At the time of publication, Lieutenant Colonel Edward M. Willis was 

 the Director of CERC; Joseph M. Caldwell was Technical Director. 



NOTE: Comments on this publication are invited. Discussion will be 

 published in the next issue of the CERC Bulletin. 



This report is published under authority of Public Law 166, 79th 

 Congress, approved July 31, 1945, as supplemented by Public Law 172, 88th 

 Congress, approved November 7, 1963. 



