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Summary and Discussion
Researchers can best support Naval Special Warfare (NSW) by increasing the knowledge and understanding
of the environment in which NSW personnel operate. Only through such research efforts can much-needed
predictive models and observational techniques for the environment be developed. The environmental parameters
that directly affect NSW operations are discussed in the NSW Mission Planning Guide or the Naval Oceano-
graphic Office (NAVOCEANO) Special Tactical Oceanographic Information Chart (STOIC) included as Plate I.
The symposium provided a unique opportunity for researchers to understand the impact of these environmental
parameters on NSW operations, discuss the present capabilities to predict and observe these parameters, and
explore future possibilities.
In addition to identifying many specific research challenges, participants in the various working groups also
discussed NSW personnel as potential users and collectors of environmental information. For example, as combat
decision making is transferred farther forward and increasingly requires near-real time data processing, analysis,
and synthesis (e.g. the Rapid Environmental Assessment loop diagrammed in Fig. 3-2), it follows that NSW
personnel will require more thorough understanding of these processes. Similarly, SEALs and other NSW
personnel (if properly trained ~ could make observations of important environmental variables at the spatial and
temporal scales needed to parameterize boundary conditions and initial conditions for high-resolution models with
very little sophisticated equipment. Indeed, by making these measurements a part of NSW training exercises now,
it seems that a wealth of information from a variety of well-known coastal locations could be compiled in the near-
term, which would rapidly advance understanding of littoral processes. It was not clear to the steering committee
to what extent such education is presently incorporated into BUD/S training or what opportunities exist to
incorporate greater education about relevant natural processes into what is already a very rigorous training
regimen. Perhaps enhancing educational opportunities through a program of continued training within the NSW
organization would be more practical.
Table 5-1 summarizes the symposium committee's evaluation, based in part on symposium discussions, of the
present, near-term, and far-term capabilities for reasonably delivering the type, accuracy, and lead time needed for
each of the environmental parameters. Research capability implies a predictive model or a measurement method
available to researchers but not yet used for Navy operations. Whether a capability could make the transition to
operational use or how long that transition would take is not addressed. Instead, Table 5-1 lists research capabili-
ties that are presently in place or will be in place within one year ("now"~; capabilities that can reasonably be
63
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64
OCEANOGRAPHY AND NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
TABLE 5-1 Environmental Support Capabilities
Current METOC Research
Capability Research Research Capability
Parameter To Support NSW Capability Now Capability Next Future
Lunar illumination S S S S
Water temperature
Surface S S S S
At depth I A A S
Bathymetry
Offshore A A S S
Nearshore I I A Aa
Waves A A S S
Tides A A S S
Cloud ceiling A A S S
Bottom composition A A S S
Surf A A A S
Currents
Offshore A A A S
Nearshore I A A S
Visibility A A A S
Toxins, dangerous animals A A Ab Ab
Lightning I A S S
Internal waves I A S S
Winds I A A S
Precipitation (liquid) I A A S
Water clarity (turbidity) I A A S
HumidityC I A A S
Biofouling I A A sb
Beach trafficability I I Ab sb
Bioluminescence I A A A
Note: I = inadequate; A = adequate; S = satisfactory
a = Mission specific; b = Not currently being pursued; c = Impact on communications as related to ducting or
vulnerability.
expected to be developed by researchers, for researchers, in two to three years ("next"~; and models and measure-
ment capabilities that will be developed in three to five years or longer ("futures. The superscript "a" identifies
scores that are mission and environment specific; for example, support may be adequate in some ocean environ-
ments but not in others. For instance, the required resolution of bathymetry measurements for NSW support is
different for platforms traveling across the inner shelf than it is for platforms crossing the surf zone. In the former
scenario, the platform is affected by the presence of shoaling banks (scales of kilometers) that may modify local
currents and wave heights. In the latter scenario, the platform is affected by the presence of sand bars and troughs
(scales of several tens of meters) that may stop a boat abruptly in mid surf zone. Superscript "b" indicates research
topics that do not appear to be pursued currently by ONR-funded scientists. The parameters assigned to the
satisfactory category under future research capabilities shows the optimism of the symposium committee about
research gains, given adequate effort.
The minimal support historically given for research in direct support of NSW is evident in Table 5-1. Only the
present capabilities to provide lunar luminescence and surface water temperature were obviously satisfactory for
present NSW needs. The present capability to provide nine important parameters was seen as adequate but not
optimal, and the present capability to provide twelve other parameters was seen as inadequate. In many instances, the
knowledge or technologies needed to improve the METOC capability to provide needed information already exists.
Table 5-2 provides information about the types of technologies that are or could be available to METOC
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SUMMARYAND DISCUSSION
65
personnel supporting NSW operations. This table, also organized by environmental parameter, lists the NSW
platforms that are affected along with the NSW Mission Planning Guide's critical threshold value (above which a
platform should not be used in the mission). Listed on Table 5-2 under the heading "Current METOC Capability
to Support NSW" are technologies currently available to Navy METOC personnel to predict and observe each
parameter. For instance, the METOC capability to provide surface water temperature seen as adequate to meet
NSW needs (Table 5-1), is based on IR satellites and surface buoys. Alternatively, the current METOC capability
for predicting and observing bioluminescence (coming from sparse, historical, climatological records) was viewed
to be inadequate (Table 5-1~.
The NSW-related research challenge is to identify deficiencies in the basic knowledge and address approaches
that can build upon that knowledge to yield both improvements and new approaches to the prediction and
observation of environmental parameters critical to NSW operations.
IMPORTANT CHALLENGES
NSW-related research challenges are formidable. NSW operations place spatially and temporally difficult
demands on environmental models and observational systems. Models and observations that were successfully
used in support of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations cannot be easily ported to support NSW operations.
The problem is both one of scales and environmental complexity. NSW operations require environmental infor-
mation on a local scale (resolution on the scale of hundreds of meters), through many different types of environ-
ments (shelf, inner shelf, nearshore, inlet, harbors, rivers). In addition, for mission planning purposes, the
environmental parameters need to be predicted five to seven days in advance. In many situations, the choice of
infiltration and exfiltration routes and platforms cannot change hours or even days before deployment.
The Navy has acknowledged that new, creative approaches to collecting, assilimating, and providing environ-
mental information should be considered if NSW is to be adequately supported. The complexity of the environ-
ment, the required resolution of information, and the demand of the mission timeline make it impossible for most
parameters to be predicted or modeled using a single approach. Leaders of the METOC community recognize the
need to develop and deploy hybrid platforms with different types of sensors for local and regional observations.
As envisioned, these platforms would use model results to improve their sensing of the environment and the
models will need to use the platform data to improve their predictions. Fortunately, many of NSW needs appear
to be shared by other communities within the operational Navy. For example, previous symposia in this series
have identified a need for enhanced capabilities to predict coastal conditions such as clouds and visibility, humid-
ity, and nearshore sea state for strike warfare (NRC 1992, 1996) and a greater understanding of littoral processes
for coastal ASW and amphibious operations (NRC 1992, 1994~. These common needs suggest that by supporting
basic and applied research in a number of areas relevant to NSW, enhanced capabilities could be achieved that
would benefit a wide spectrum of end users within the Fleet.
Listed under the research capabilities (now, next, and future) in Table 5-2 are the types of technology that the
committee believes, based on the symposium discussions and their own experience, are presently available to
researchers, or that will be available to researchers in two to three years, or in three to five years or longer. This
table provides an educated guess as to how research may evolve. The outlook is promising. However, how well
the NSW challenge is met will depend on the Navy's focus and the researcher's appreciation and understanding of
that focus.
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66
OCEANOGRAPHY AND NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
TABLE 5.2 Mission-Sensitive Environmental Parameters
Current METOC Capability
Parameter Platform (mission critical threshold) To Support NSW
Bathymetry Pervasive · Databases
· Charts
· Echo-sounders
· Hydro recon
· Airborne laser (LABS)
· AUV side-scan (soon)
Bioluminescence · SDV, swimmers · Sparse climatology
(10-ft in water visibility, in ambient
light)
Currents · SDV (>2.5 kt) · Tide Charts
· Swimmers (>1 kt) · X-T surf-zone long-shore currents
(Surf Manual)
· Feature tracking of SAT images
· Coastal models
Waves and surf · SDV (>3 It) · Global WAM
· CRRC, parachute (>4 It) · Regional WAM
· Swimmer (>5 It) · Laser wave heights (airborne)
· MATC, PBL, PER (>6 It) · Breaker type (Surf Manual)
· RIBS, PB, HSB, MK V (>10 It) · SAT wave-height fields (>10 km
PC (>8-12 It) scales)
· SAT wave-directions (deep wtr)
· SAT surf-zone patterns
Tides · SDV (>2 It range, if LW depth <8 It · Tide charts
· X-T models
· Expendable tide gauge (soon)
Water temperature · SDV, swimmer (<600 F) · SAT IR (surface)
· Tailored, local summaries (based on
models, data, etc.)
· XBT
· Sensors on operational platforms
· Drifting buoys
Winds · Parachute (>13-40 kts, height · NORAPS/AMPS
dependent) · Mobile teams
· PB, MATC, PBL, PER, RIBS, PC, · SAT winds (clouds, SSMI)
MK V (>35 kts) · T-DROP (soon)
· AEGIS Tactical Wx Radar (soon)
Precipitation (liquid) · Parachute (>0.1 inch per hour) · NOGAPS/AMPS
· Direct observations
· Weather radars
· AEGIS Tactical Wx Radar (soon)
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SUMMARYAND DISCUSSION
67
Research Capability Now
Research Capability Next
Research Capability Future
· Jet skis
· AUV sensing
· HIDEX (also at NAVOCEANO)
· Direct measurements of emission
· HE radar (shore)
· Drifters
· Moored Doppler
· X-T nearshore models over complex
bathymetry
· REF/DIF
· Expendable pitch-roll buoys
· TOPEX-based offshore models
· X-Y-T nearshore models driven by
offshore
· Hyperspectral inversion of depths
· Wave celerity-based inversions
· SAR-pattern based inversions
· U/W rem sensing (i.e., BPS)
· Short-term temporal predictability
· AUV sensors
· Interferometric SAR
· HE radar (ships)
· VHF radar
· AUV survey
· Extended feature tracking (e.g.,
ARGUS, SATs)
· U/W rem sensing (i.e., BPS)
· Data assimilation
· X-Y-T nearshore models
· Bousinesq models
· Data assimilation
· X-Y-Z-T nearshore models driven by
offshore
· Photo-grammetric interpretation of
Imagery
· Data-fused celerity-based inversions
· SAT versions of airborne methods
Spatial predictability
· AUV networks
· Hi-res littoral models
· Hi-res direct measurements
· X-Y-Z-T nearshore models
· Combined air-sea-waves models
(currents, waves)
· Hi-res littoral models
· Hi-res littoral models
· Coastal circulation models · Closer-to-shore models · Hi-res littoral models
· Small temp sensors · AAV IR · AUV networks
· Airborne IR · Subsurface inferences from SAT
· AUV sensors based data fusion
· NSCAT directional winds · Drifters w/wind · Higher resolution, but local coverage
· On-site hi-res sensors · COAMPS, ETA, MM5, etc. (coupled · SAT polarmetric winds
air-sea models) · Patterns from SAR
· AEGIS radar · TRMM · Hi-res models, assimilating
· AEGIS extensions · SAT and radar improvements
· COAMPS, ETA, MM5, etc. (coupled
air-sea models)
(continuedJ
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68
TABLE 5.2 Continued
OCEANOGRAPHY AND NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Parameter
Platform (mission critical threshold)
Current METOC Capability
To Support NSW
Thunderstorms and lightning
Visibility
Cloud ceiling
Internal waves
Water clarity (turbidity)
Lunar illumination
Humidity
Bottom composition
Beach trafficability
Biofouling
Toxins, dangerous marine organisms
· Parachute (closer than 1 mi)
· Parachute (<3 nmi horizontally)
· Mission accomplishment (e.g., target
lasing)
· Parachute (variable needs; aircraft
height dependent)
· SDV (existence in operational area)
· SDV, swimmer (>10 It visibility from
surface, in ambient light)
· SDV, CRRC, swimmer (full moon,
clear sky)
· CRRC (surface ducts for E-M)
· SDV
· Mission related
· Mission related
· Mission related
· SDV, swimmers (not known)
· Direct observations (EM, visible)
· Vis/aerosol models
· Direct observations (instrument, eye)
· Laser ceilometer
· NO GAPS/AMPS
None
· Climatology
· Expendable k-meter (XKT)
· Ephemeris
· SAT cloud observations
· T-DROP
· NO GAPS/AMPS
· SAT water vapor
· COAMPS (soon)
· Sparse climatology
· Geological inferences
· In situ observations
· Sparse climatology
· Geological inferences
· In situ & remote observations (SAT)
· USMC/USA expertise/input
· Sparse climatology
· Climatology for some regions
NOTE: AAV = autonomous airborne vehicle; AUV = autonomous underwater vehicle; BPS = Beach Probing System; COAMPS = coupled
ocean-atmosphere model; CRRC = Combat Rubber Raiding Craft; EM = electromagnetic; EOS = Earth Observing System; HE = high
frequency; HIDEX = High-Intake Defined Excitation System; HSB = High Speed Boat; IR = infrared; LABS = Laser Airborne Bathymetry
System; LW = low water; MATC = Mini-Armored Troop Carrier; NAVOCEANO = Naval Oceanographic Office; NOGAPS/AMPS = Navy
Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System; NORAPS/AMPS = Navy Operational Regional Atmospheric Prediction System;
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SUMMARYAND DISCUSSION
69
Research Capability Now
Research Capability Next
Research Capability Future
None None · EOS lightning sensors
· Laser refractometers, transmissometers · Improved visibility models · Hi-res littoral models
None
· COAMPS, ETA, MMT, etc. Coupled None
air-sea models)
· In situ or remote measurements · Regional databases · Regional prediction models
· Statistical climatologies · X-Y-Z-T generation models · Hi-res littoral models
· X-Z-T generation models
· Ocean color (rem sensing) · AAV hyperspectral · SAT hyperspectral
· In situ transmissometer (moored, · AUV transmissometer · Hi-res littoral models
profiled) · AUV networks
Same Same Same
· Hi-res radiosondes · COAMPS · Hi-res models, assimilating
· Advanced SAT sensors, for model
assimilation
· Direct measurement · Inferences from fused geological and · Predictive models
· Acoustic inversions other data (acoustic, multi-spectral) · AUV-based acoustic inversions
· Acoustic inversions from operational · Data fusion and inversion
platforms
· Airborne observations · Inferences from fused geological and · Inferences from SAT/airborne SAR,
other data (EM, SAR, multi-spectral) hyper-spectral sensing, etc., fused with
· Geological inferences fused with geological, and oceanographic
nearshore oceanographic climatology information
· Expert system for estimates, inferences
· Direct measurement · Tailored estimates from ambient con- · Expert system for estimates, inferences
· Uncollated data ditions
· Collated data
· Direct measurement · Tailored estimates from ambient con- · Expert system for estimates, inferences
· Uncollated data ditions
· Mitigation strategies
· Collated data
NS CAT = NASA Scatterometer; PB = Patrol Boat; PBL = Light Patrol Boat; PER = River Patrol Boat; PC = Patrol Craft; REF/DIF =
refraction and/or diffraction; RIBS = Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boats; SAR = synthetic aperture radar; SAT = satellite; SDV = SEAL Delivery
Vehicle; SSMI = Special Sensor Microwave Imagers; TOPEX = Ocean Surface Topography Experiment; TRMM = Tropical Rainfall Measur-
ing Mission; T-DROP = Tactical Dropsond; USA = U.S. Army; USMC = U.S. Marine Corps; U/W = underwater; VHF = very high
frequency; WAM = Wave Model; XBT = expendable bathythermograph
Representative terms from entire chapter:
littoral models
