PERSPECTIVES FROM GODAE
3
life did exist at great depth. Scientific cruises for systematic exploration
were born. The British Challenger expedition from 1872 to 1876 and
German exploration on the Gazelle from 1874 to 1876 were two of the early
successful deep sea expeditions, taking systematic measurements of ocean
currents, temperature, chemistry and biology, as well as sampling bottom
sediments.
Valuable trading routes had been started on the open seas and travel time
was a critical element of commercial success. M.F. Maury, superintendent of
the Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington, D.C., began to collect
and collate information on surface currents and weather conditions leading
to the publication of The Physical Geography of the Sea (Maury 1859),
making it one of the first practical applications of ocean science and ocean
observations. If a point in time has to be chosen to mark the beginning of
operational oceanography, this time is it. Maury led the organization of an
international system for regular observation; sailors on all vessels at sea
would regularly record certain observations (e.g., sea state, sea surface
temperature, weather, etc.) and, in exchange, they would be provided with
charts of ocean currents and weather conditions in order to plan their
voyage. The legacy of these early efforts can still be appreciated in the
GODAE systems of today.
These scientific endeavors marked the start of what Neumann and
Pierson (1966) termed the first era of oceanographic research. The threedimensional structure of the ocean was being observed for the first time. The
second era was born out of the realization that the ocean was not stationary
and that its circulation could be partly explained by theoretical relationships
(e.g., Ekman, 1905). Exploration of the oceans moved into the fourdimensional era; expeditions of the early twentieth century were making
more accurate physical and chemical measurements and the station spacing
was closer, driven in part by theoretical revelations. While this era probably
marked the first awareness of spatial and temporal sampling problems, it
was to be many years later before the ramifications of aliasing and poor
spatial resolution were to be fully appreciated.
The third era was characterized by significant technological advances,
such as the bathythermograph, and by highly organized, intensive
oceanographic surveys which sought quasi-synoptic sampling of large
regions. This era also marked the introduction of non-ship instrumentation
such as drifting and moored buoys. One of the more imaginative innovations
of this period was the neutrally buoyant float (Swallow 1955), a technology
that lies at the heart of the Argo campaign of today. This period was also
marked by significant advances in theory, not the least being the first
theoretical explanations of the gyres and intense western boundary current
depicted in Maury's chart (e.g., Stommel, 1948; Sverdrup 1947).
3
life did exist at great depth. Scientific cruises for systematic exploration
were born. The British Challenger expedition from 1872 to 1876 and
German exploration on the Gazelle from 1874 to 1876 were two of the early
successful deep sea expeditions, taking systematic measurements of ocean
currents, temperature, chemistry and biology, as well as sampling bottom
sediments.
Valuable trading routes had been started on the open seas and travel time
was a critical element of commercial success. M.F. Maury, superintendent of
the Depot of Charts and Instruments at Washington, D.C., began to collect
and collate information on surface currents and weather conditions leading
to the publication of The Physical Geography of the Sea (Maury 1859),
making it one of the first practical applications of ocean science and ocean
observations. If a point in time has to be chosen to mark the beginning of
operational oceanography, this time is it. Maury led the organization of an
international system for regular observation; sailors on all vessels at sea
would regularly record certain observations (e.g., sea state, sea surface
temperature, weather, etc.) and, in exchange, they would be provided with
charts of ocean currents and weather conditions in order to plan their
voyage. The legacy of these early efforts can still be appreciated in the
GODAE systems of today.
These scientific endeavors marked the start of what Neumann and
Pierson (1966) termed the first era of oceanographic research. The threedimensional structure of the ocean was being observed for the first time. The
second era was born out of the realization that the ocean was not stationary
and that its circulation could be partly explained by theoretical relationships
(e.g., Ekman, 1905). Exploration of the oceans moved into the fourdimensional era; expeditions of the early twentieth century were making
more accurate physical and chemical measurements and the station spacing
was closer, driven in part by theoretical revelations. While this era probably
marked the first awareness of spatial and temporal sampling problems, it
was to be many years later before the ramifications of aliasing and poor
spatial resolution were to be fully appreciated.
The third era was characterized by significant technological advances,
such as the bathythermograph, and by highly organized, intensive
oceanographic surveys which sought quasi-synoptic sampling of large
regions. This era also marked the introduction of non-ship instrumentation
such as drifting and moored buoys. One of the more imaginative innovations
of this period was the neutrally buoyant float (Swallow 1955), a technology
that lies at the heart of the Argo campaign of today. This period was also
marked by significant advances in theory, not the least being the first
theoretical explanations of the gyres and intense western boundary current
depicted in Maury's chart (e.g., Stommel, 1948; Sverdrup 1947).