The White Falcon - 05.12.1980, Blaðsíða 4
4 White Falcon December 5, 1980
NOCD:
They do more than
forecast the weather
"Keflavik's weather will be cold
with occasional snow flurries..."
We all listen to the nightly news
and the weather forecast, and we all
know the Naval Oceanography Command
Detachment (NOCD) is responsible for
providing Navy Broadcasting with
weather forecasts and for keeping
Channel 2, the weather channel, up
to date.
But is this all NOCD does? Not
by a long shot. According to Com-
mander Robert Plante, Commanding
Officer of NOCD, "Our primary func-
tion is to supply meteorlogical data,
primarily aviation weather support,
to squadrons here at Keflavik.
"In addition to that we have a
lot of other functions. One of
those functions, of course, is to
provide weather for the NATO Base
population."
CDR Plante stresses, however,
that there are many other functions
NOCD is involved with.
Take, for instance, NOCD's very
active program with the Icelandic
Marine Research Institute.
"This program consists of a
series of survey ships," CDR Plante
explained. "We provide them in-
strumentation, and they take the
oceanographic readings. We can
then utilize those in getting a
better understanding of the ocean
currents and the ocean structures
which are exceedingly complex in
this part of the world," he stated.
Weather balloons
NOCD is also involved in work
of international interest. Twice
daily the detachment releases
helium-filled weather balloons,
gathering temperature, humidity
and wind data aloft at altitudes in
excess of 100,000 feet.
As CDR Plante put it, "This pro-
gram is in support not only of
aviation interests here, but of
international aviation interests.
We're one of the key observing
points in the Atlantic."
Ice watch
The oceanography command also
plays a major role in the Ice Recon-
naissance Program conducted each
summer between March and August.
Utilizing aircraft from the VP
squadron, NOCD flies over the waters
in this area and the waters sur-
rounding Greenland.
During the summer months, the ice
edge in this area breaks up, and it
is NOCD's job to take accurate
readings when this occurs; supply
ships going to Sondrestrom Air Base
and Thule, Greenland, depend on this
information.
"We try to fly so that we have
the most current data, so we fly
just prior to a ship moving up into
those waters," CDR Plante said.
"It will be the best available in-
formation for the ice edge, because
it does shift, it does move, and we
want to provide the ship's navigator
with the best information on where
to navigate and where to stay out
of," he concluded.
Winter forecast
The Naval Oceanography Command
Detachment is in many other pro-
grams, but because CDR Plante is
"the weatherman" in the eyes of
base personnel, he offered this
sneak-preview forecast for the win-
ter of 1980. With a gleam in his
eye, the commander said, "We have
to pay for the nice summer we had."