FOREWORD 



This report describes a computer system and programs that 

 will establish a world-wide bathymetric data bank and generate 

 computer-drawn bathymetric profiles. The research was performed 

 by the Naval Oceanographic Office in support of the Office of 

 Naval Research, Long Range Acoustic Propagation Project, which 

 provided funding. It is part of a major bathymetric charting 

 project covering the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. 

 Bathymetric data, usually in the form of profiles, are essential 

 elements in the development of acoustic propagation models and 

 predictions, which are required for naval planning, systems 

 development, and operations. The computerized bathymetric 

 profiling system and specialized data bank described here will 

 generate computer-drawn bathymetric profiles at a small fraction 

 of the time and cost of manually produced profiles. This 

 specialized data bank will be operational when approximately 

 600 5-degree-square areas have been structured on a random-access 

 storage device. Presently, the contour data required for the 

 structuring procedure are being digitized under ONR-LRAPP 

 contract No. N00014-72-C-0466 . 



p. V. PURKRABEK 



Captain, U.S. Navy 



Commander 



U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office 



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