of all the wind errors both strong and wealc, so they reflect chiefly 

 the errors of the less important and more abundant weaker winds. For 

 a given wind field it would certainly be possible that a minimum error 

 score wind would not specify the strong winds as well as a larger error 

 score \d.nd of some other type. 



For the objective-analysis winds, the strongest winds were given by 

 the unsmoothed analyses. The effect of smoothing, while showing improve- 

 ment in the error scores up to a certain point, was to attenuate the 

 strong winds, the greater the smoothing the greater the attenuation. The 

 regression wind fields specified winds at least as strong as and often 

 stronger than those of the unsmoothed objective analysis winds. 

 Travelers recommended that the regression winds, the unsmoothed objec- 

 tive-analysis winds, and the sraoothed-objective analysis winds all be 

 subjected to a wave spectra test to see which one most exactly pro- 

 duced the observed spectra. 



New York University Contract 



In April I962 a contract was executed with New York University with 

 a subcontract to Lockheed-California to perform research in two phases: 



1. To develop and verify techniques for forecasting directional 

 wave spectra by means of computers and based on synoptic reports over 

 the Worth Atlantic Ocean. 



2. To produce a wave- spectrum climatology based on 12-hourly sea- 

 level pressure data for the North Atlantic Ocean during a 5-year period 

 beginning April 1955 and ending March i960. 



The data used in performing the work under this contract consisted 

 of the following: 



1. Approximately 8OO shipborne wave-recorder records from OWS 

 Weather Explorer and OWS Weather Reporter provided by the National 

 Institute of Oceanography, Great Britain. 



2. Digitized sea-level pressure and surface to 700-mb mean temper- 

 ature grid data on magnetic tapes for the North Atlantic Ocean from 

 April 1955 through March 196O obtained from the U. S. Air Force Project 

 ^33L, error checked and corrected by Travelers Research Center. 



3. Ship surface weather reports over the North Atlantic Ocean in 

 Card Decks II6, 117^ and British reports for the 15-month period January 

 tlrirough December 1959^ December 1958^ November 1956, and December 1955 

 on magnetic tapes obtained from the National Weather Records Center, 

 Asheville. 



The subcontract between New York University and Lockheed-California 

 Company was executed in mid-1962 for the purpose of providing technical 

 support to the total project leading to an ocean wave-spectra climatology 



U 



