during the forthcoming quarter to interpret these oscillations. 
DECOMPRESSION GAGE 
Deep-sea divers must carefully schedule their ascents from deep dives 
in order to avoid decompression sickness. The Army and Navy have prepared 
tables for scheduling decompressing, but they are inconvenient, expecially 
in the case of self-contained diving where the diver must schedule his own 
dive. A handy wrist gage is being designed which will automatically take 
into account the time-depth history of the diver's dive and predict for him 
a safe, optimum rate of ascent. The problem is to make the characteristics of 
the gage as close as possible to the characteristics of the diver's body. 
This is being done by having the gage give, as close as it is possible to 
do with a simple mechanism, the same rate of ascent as standard diving tables. 
WIND STRESS WATER 
A technical report, Wind Stress Over Water, by William G. VanDorn, 
is being prepared. This work has been supported by contract with the 
Air Force. An abstract is included here because the paper has some bearing 
on beach erosion problems. 
The wind-induced slope of the surface of an 800-foot model-yacht 
pond has been measured to a relative accuracy of 5 x Gn) Thas slope, 
which is proportional to the sum of the surface and bottom stresses, is 
shown to be the result of two effects: first, a tangential "friction" 
drag, which is invariably present and proportional to the square of the 
Windspeed; and second, a "form" drag, which occurs only after the wind 
has increased above a certain critical value. The second effect is re- 
lated to surface waves. Application of a detergent to the water 
eliminates both waves and form drag. The surface current was proportion- 
al to the windspeed and independent of waves. The slope increased with 
heavy rain, and a theoretical model is proposed which adequately pre- 
dicts the observed increase. 
The present study was modeled closely after Keulegan's experiments 
in a 60-foot laboratory channel. The results of the two studies agree 
quantitatively. 
PUBLICATIONS 
Article Submitted for Publication 
Shepard, F. P., and D. B. Sayner, Longshore and Coastal Currents at 
Scripps Institution Pier, submitted to Beach Erosion Board. 
Articles Published 
Inman, D. L., Measures for Describing the Size Distribution of Sediments, 
Jour. Sed. Petrol. Vol. 22, No. 3, 1952, pp. 125-15. 
Al 
