TEXAS TOWER OCEANOGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONAL PROGRAM 

 PROGRESS REPORT - No. 1 



I. INTRODUCTION 



The first oceanographic Instruments were installed aboard Georges 

 Shoal Texas Tower in April 1956. Observations made during the months 

 of April, May, June, August, and September provide the basis for a pre- 

 liminary evaluation of the Texas Tower as an observational platform and 

 of the adaptability of the instruments tested. The tower has thus far 

 proven to be an excellent platform from which to conduct observations 

 impossible on shipboard. All instruments tested are considered feasible, 

 with varying degrees of modification. 



II. HISTORY 



Announcement in September 1954 of the Air Force's plans to install 

 five offshore Texas Towers, promulgated the idea within the Hydrographic 

 Office of investigating the feasibility of adapting these platforms for 

 the collection of oceanographic data. In the application to Navy problems, 

 such data would have the following important advantages: 



a. The data would be an important part of a widespread data collec- 

 tion program now carried out in support of the Undersea Warfare 

 Program assigned to this Office. 



b. The data would have direct application to many environmental 

 problems now confronting the Navy, such as, the prediction of sonar 

 ranges, various mine countermeasures problems, a better understanding 

 of actual physical processes in the ocean and its boundary media, 

 and many others. 



c. The data would be unique in that they combine the advantages 

 of a stable platform, relatively free of artificial boundary 

 interference, capable of obtaining synoptic time series data at 

 several locations. Such data would provide insight into the 

 behavior and eventual prediction of many oceanographic variables. 



d. The data could be acquired at a fraction of the cost of data 

 taken from aboard ship. 



Authorization for deck space on the five USAF programmed Texas Towers 

 to house recording equipment required to collect oceanographic data was 

 granted by the Air Force in November 1954. 



