Continued planning of the U.S. Global Ocean Flux Program (U.S. GOFS) will be the focus of this effort. This program results from a workshop held in 1984 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. The principal theme is to identify and quantify the physical, chemical and biological processes controlling biogeochemical cycling in the ocean, and their interaction with the global atmosphere. The goal is to understand the processes governing the production and fate of biogenic materials in the sea well enough to predict their influences on, and responses to, global scale perturbations. In order to achieve these complex goals, a Planning Office has been established which serves the needs to coordination, communication, publication, planning and representation of the scientific issues involved. The coordination and implementation of this program nationally and internationally is provided for. During the grant period a pilot program involving 5 nations and 2 aircraft will be undertaken, data from time-series stations will commence, and plans for a global survey will be brought to final form.
