NATIONAL DATA BUOY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - LONG RANGE DEVELOPMENT PLAN.

The report of the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources responding to the Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 1966, recommended six national projects on which initial attention and effort should be centered. One of these six projects is the development of ocean data buoy technology and the deployment of a pilot buoy network. This development plan describes and programs the major tasks which must be completed to advance buoy technology and to implement a pilot buoy network, and ultimately to deploy an operational buoy network if justified. The mission of National Data Buoy Systems is to gather and report meaningful environmental information from the marine areas of the globe on an accurate, real-time, scheduled basis. Only about 20 of the earths surface is now adequately observed for weather information, while the remaining 80, mostly over the oceans, is inadequately known. This proportion is substantially poorer if oceanographic information is considered, since only the existing thin network of ocean station ships and the occasional research ships now provide oceanographic measurements. Author