PREFACE 



This bulletin is the annual report of the International Ice Patrol 

 Service for 1963. This bulletin is divided into two parts. The first 

 is a report of the ice patrol operations from 7 March to 21 June 1963. 

 Aircraft and communication activities are described and special 

 sections deal with observed monthly ice conditions and statistics on 

 ice and weather reports from shipping for 1963. There is also a 

 special section on preseason northern iceberg surveys. 



The second part comprises a presentation of the oceanographic data 

 collected during the 1963 ice season in the Grand Banks region and 

 the Labrador Sea. Included are charts of dynamic topography of the 

 sea surface (ocean current maps), tables of oceanographic data, and a 

 brief discussion of the results of each survey. 



The authors of the section on physical oceanography are Alfred P. 

 Franceschetti, Oceanographer, USCG; LCDR V. W. Driggers, USCG; 

 and LT R. M. O'Hagan, USCGR. The section on nutrient distri- 

 bution was written by David A. McGill and Nathaniel Corwin, both 

 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and that on the 

 polyethylene bottles by LCDR V. W. Driggers. The remainder was 

 written by LCDR R. E. Lenczyk, USCG. 



With the publication of the report for the 1964 season, this bulletin 

 will be revised in format. In its present conformation, distribution 

 of the annual report is significantly delayed because of the time 

 required to process and analyze the oceanographic data. The report 

 of the operational phase of the International Ice Patrol Service, 

 including the narrative report of activities and ice conditions and 

 descriptions of research into the operational problems, will continue 

 to be published in this series. The sections describing the physical 

 oceanography of the Grand Banks region and the Labrador Sea and 

 oceanographic research will be published separately in a recently 

 estabhshed series: U.S. Coast Guard Oceanographic Reports, CG-373. 



