Oceanometrics Defined 



The work described in this paper is often referred to as the 

 "climatology of the oceans. " Since the dictionary definition of 

 "climatology" refers to the atmosphere only, Dr. Snedecor pro- 

 posed that this aspect of oceanography be called "oceanometrics. " 

 The use of such a word has precedents in the fields of biology and 

 economics, where "biometrics" and "econometrics" are well- 

 defined words. 



Since Dr. Snedecor first proposed the word some five years 

 ago, its definition has been undergoing gradual evolution. Origi- 

 nally it was felt that the word implied a relationship to oceanogra- 

 phy similar to the relationship of climatology to meteorology. In 

 the minds of many people climatology is associated with the statis- 

 tical summarization of measurements of atmospheric parameters, 

 such as temperature, wind speed, and the lil^e, with no implication 

 concerning its ultimate application. 



As a result a second definition evolved suggesting that 

 oceanometrics occupied a position between the extremes of "pure 

 dynamical oceanography" and "climatology of the ocean. " In tliis 

 sense pure dynamical oceanography is thought of as attempting to 



