Replace river and flood observing equipment ($26,000)

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Replacement of four river gages at $7,000 and five precipitation gages at $19,000 is required to bring the river and flood network back to its pre-Camille capability. This restoration is also required as part of the effort to establish the flash flood warning program discussed in the following section covering proposed improvement to ESSA warning services.

Restore tide gages and remoting equipment ($14,000)

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Two primary tide stations in the hurricaneaffected area were substantially damaged, one on Dauphin Island (Mobile Bay) and the other at Pensacola, Florida. Their reestablishment will require rebuilding of structures and replacement of some tide measurement equipment at a cost of $6,000. Replacement of relay and remoting devices ($8,000) is also required to transmit tide information to the Weather Bureau offices at Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida.

Replace survey launch ($40,000)

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Two damaged hydrographic survey launches were part of Hydrographic Field Party No. 742 working in the Biloxi Gulfport area. The launches had been tied up in a sheltered area near Biloxi, Mississippi, while the party was working on a small project in Texas. After the hurricane had passed through the area, both launches were found to be sunk. Only one of the launches has been recovered to date and it had been holed in a number of places. The second launch has not yet been raised. Because of structural damage to the launches and salt water damage to equipment and some survey instrumentation, the launches are considered a total loss. Replacement of one of these launches is requested in FY 1970 at a cost of $40,000.

Applications Technology Satellite data utilization ($181,000) This request provides for the specialized equipment required to receive cloud images from NASA's Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) III, and to process these images into operationally useful formats and then display them at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida for use in preparing hurricane advisories and warnings. In order to take advantage of the capabilities of ATS III during the hurricane seasons of 1970 and 1971 pending establishment of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system in 1972, it is necessary to buy and install unique equipment at Wallops Island, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Miami, Florida which can accomodate the ATS-III data and maintain the high quality of display essential to optimum use.

If NASA and ESSA budget requests for FY 1970 are approved by Congress, the GOES system, evolving from the ATS, will be implemented with the launch of the first operational prototype in 1972. In the interim period, it is planned to make operational use of the ATS III satellite to provide continuous daytime viewing of hurricane activity of concern to the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts and contribute to more timely and accurate advisories and warnings to the public.

Research aircraft instrumentation ($1,355,000)

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Airborne equipment and research instrumentation has been in use by the Research Flight Facility far beyond the expected lifetime of the individual components. Certain items of basic equipment have deteriorated to the point where the quality and quantity of storm observational data are in jeopardy. Much of the instrumentation is outmoded by present technology. In view of the aircraft and equipment limitations currently experienced by the Air Force and Navy hurricane flight units, the operational mission of the Research Flight Facility must continue to provide support to the hurricane reconnaissance program. The requested funds will be utilized to replace obsolete instrumentation of special importance to tropical storm and hurricane research and surveillance.

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Replacement of Doppler wind measuring system in two DC-6s and a B-57 at $125,000 each, total $375,000 Reliable determination of winds is essential to all hurricane and tropical storm research and forecast activity and is required at all operating altitudes of the aircraft. The present Doppler system is completely obsolete. It is kept alive by continuous repairs often during flight. Modern Doppler equipment to be installed on the Research Flight Facility aircraft will improve the accuracy of wind determination from within 5-10 knots toto 1 knot, and will increase the reliability of the system's operations.

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Replacement of long-range radar in the two DC-6s at $250,000 each, total $500,000 These systems are vital to the surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes and to safe navigation into the hurricane center. The existing radar have been used far beyond their lifetime. Their operation is now quite unreliable and their replacement long overdue The new radar are light-weight systems of high accuracy and reliability, have a lower power comsumption and less in-flight maintenance requirements.

Replacement of digital data recording units in two DC-6s and a B-57 at $125,000 each, total $375,000 Due to low speed, limited capacity and overlong use, digital data recording systems presently onboard are incapable of handling the increasing volume of in-flight measurements. Modern high speed, lightweight systems provide the urgently needed data recording capability and flexibility. A prototype unit installed in the Research Flight Facility's DC-4 has been tested and developed permitting immediate replacement of the obsolete systems in the other aircraft.