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surf, and swell; sea-surface temperature; thermocline depth; subsurface thermal structure; subsurface current vectors; special factors related to underwater sound; sea-ice cover; and optimum conditions for ship routing.

Much of Defense's effort in MAREP is applied in support of various antisubmarine warfare (ASW) systems. This is because the propagation of underwater sound is central to most aspects of ASW and the behavior of sound in sea water is strongly influenced by marine environmental factors. As more understanding is gained of the complexity and variability of the ocean, it is evident that the controlling environmental conditions must be monitored and projected into the future on a broad basis for ASW purposes.

In FY 71, Defense allocated $17,420,000 for MAREP required for specialized military applications.

PLANS FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
OPERATIONAL PROGRAM

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RELEVANT RESEARCH PROGRAM

Research directed toward improvement of the MAREP Service for Specialized Military Applications sponsored by Defense will total $9,459,000 for FY 72; this amounts to a decrease of $65,000 below FY 71. These funds support research and development in oceanographic processes, shallow ocean data, ice cover, large-scale air-sea interaction, internal sea motions, synoptic weather data collection, observational techniques from space, prediction techniques, automated thermal structure and wave forecasting, and telemetering buoy systems. The Navy's Ocean Science Research Program, a portion of which is devoted to MAREP, uses some 34 inhouse laboratory and institution research vessels. Examples of relevant research efforts within the Navy are:

The North Pacific Experiment (NORPAX), a large-scale air-sea interaction experiment aimed at a better understanding of the atmosphere and the upper few hundred meters of the ocean volume.

The Automated Shipboard Forecasting System using real-time local water column and meteorological data and satellite data to update continuously the 24- to 48-hour forecasts of oceanographic conditions expected to be encountered by the ship.

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