The Master Clock of the United States, from which all other national time standards are derived, is maintained at the Naval Observatory in Washington
On a day-to-day basis, ocean and weather observations are collected worldwide from civilian and military oceanography sources, processed ashore, and used to make both oceanographic and meteorological forecasts in near-real-time
The Navy's Optimum Track Ship Routing (OTSR) program uses the most up-to-date weather and ocean data to generate recommendations for the safest, most efficient, and economical passage for ships on the high seas. This service, especially on long ocean crossings, has not only been vital to the safety of ships, but has also saved millions of dollars in fuel costs alone.
Collecting Oceanography Data
There is an on-going program of collecting and analyzing ocean and atmospheric data and a wide range of research and development activities. Modern oceanographers investigate the nature and behavior of the oceans from every point of view. In addition to customary bathymetric surveys for bottom mapping, they also collect data on the composition and roughness of the ocean floor, as well as seawater temperature, salinity, pressure, and biological characteristics.Specially configured instruments are used to measure currents, waves, and ocean fronts, local variations in the Earth's magnetic and gravitational fields, and acoustical background noise. While these measurements have traditionally been made from aircraft, buoys, and ships at sea, there is increasing emphasis on the use of space satellites for a wide variety of observations.
Oceanography systems - both civil and military - are used not only for observing large weather features, such as clouds and storms, but also for measuring sea surface temperature and surface winds, wave height and direction, ocean color, ice cover, and variations in sea surface height - a key indicator of both local gravity and the presence of sea floor peaks and valleys.
The collection and analysis of all these data are largely the responsibility of the Naval Oceanographic Office in Mississippi and the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in California, each of which operates a major supercomputer facility. These computers are used both for the assimilation and analysis of world-wide sensor data for ocean current estimates - and for research and development by the ocean and atmospheric technical communities.
Additionally, both organizations make significant use of data exchanged by foreign nations. The Naval Oceanographic Office, in particular, has entered into a series of Hydrographic Cooperation (HYCOOP) agreements to share the results of coastal hydrographic surveys with international partners.
Both Navy laboratories and civilian technical institutes are major contributors to the environmental sciences, and important efforts are under way to translate their findings into new techniques and equipment for improving the accuracy and timeliness of weather and ocean forecasting.
