FOREWORD 



The section of this report entitled Oceanography was prepared by 

 Senior Physical Oceanographer Floyd M. Soule, United States Coast 

 Guard. The other parts of the report were prepared by Lt. G. Van 

 A. Graves, United States Coast Guard, ice observation officer. 



These annual reports of the International Ice Observation and Ice 

 Patrol Service in the North Atlantic have been published since 1913, 

 with the exception of the years 1917 and 1918 in which years no 

 patrols were conducted. These reports form the continumg story of 

 the history and development of this service. It has not been attempt- 

 ed in any one of these reports to solve all the problems or settle all the 

 controversies of the Ice Patrol but in each one it has been attempted 

 to stress, develop, and if possible to solve one phase of the general 

 problem and to brmg out the particular and peculiar characteristics 

 of the season in question. It is evident, therefore, that in order for 

 the reader to have a complete understanding of these activities he 

 must consider these many reports as constituent parts of a homoge- 

 neous whole, and not as entities in themselves. To obtam this back- 

 ground the interested reader is referred to previous bulletins of this 

 series, particularly the report of the 1935 season, Bulletin No. 25, 

 1937, the foreword of which contains a reference list of the more im- 

 portant and interesting bulletins. 



The mechanical problems presented in locating the ice and the 

 technical problems in receiving and disseminating the necessary 

 information were soon solved and the efficiency of this phase of the 

 work is limited only by the advances in radio telegraphy. The most 

 successful phase, however, of this work and the one from wliich the 

 most gratifying results have been obtained has been the program of 

 scientific research. This program now consists almost entirely of 

 research in physical oceanography and the success of the current 

 maps which resulted from work in this field assures their continued 

 use. The attention of the student in oceanography is called to the 

 sections on oceanography in ah of these bulletins which afford him a 

 constantly increasing source of oceanographical data and treatises 

 on ocean circulation in the western North Atlantic Ocean. 



