Tropical Meteorology
Between the years 1959 and 1965, forty research ships of 23 countries assayed the Indian Ocean together. This ocean, having an exceptional position because of the monsoons and being surrounded by developing countries, was the least known sea area. The abutters should have gotten an opportunity to start their own sea and fishing research programs. In 1958 the prelude was formed by the American ship "Vema", other ships joined in between 1959 and 1960: "Diamantina" (Australia), "Commandant Robert Giraud" (France), "Vitjaz" (USSR), "Argo", "Requisite" (USA) and the "Umitaka Maru". West Germany followed with its "Meteor" in 1964/64.
In the course of the longtime Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) called for a global weather experiment by which the entire atmosphere and the ocean surface are supposed to be observed for the first time. More than fifty ships worked in the equatorial areas around the globe and collected oceanographic and meteorological measured data for an "inventory of the world weather". Especially the continuation of the works and questions became the most important task for the next years and decades.
Besides these big international programs, the number of projects carried out by two or three countries increased. With increasing political and economical pressure, which resulted from the rising raw material supply, more and more countries participated in marine research.
Read more about this topic: History Of Research Ships, The Postwar Period
Famous quotes containing the word tropical:
“Oh, you’ll love the sea. There’s something about it. The hot red dawn, the towering sails, the wake on a tropical night. Oh, you’ll love it all. It’s a glorious kind of world. I couldn’t live without it.”
—Charles Larkworthy. Denison Clift. Capt. Benjamin Briggs (Arthur Margetson)