Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate Project Records
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2014
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate Project Records
Identifier/Call Number: SAC 0032
Physical Description:
15.6 Linear feet
(39 archives boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1991 - 1996
Abstract: The collection consists of administrative files, technical documents, legal materials, correspondence and audiovisual materials
from the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate Project.
Historical Background
The theoretical origins of the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) Project began in 1975 when Walter Munk and Carl
Wunsch discovered ocean acoustic tomography as a technique with which to measure temperature variations across the large expanses
of the ocean. This discovery activated the 1991 Heard Island Feasibility Test, which was designed to establish the usable
parameters of long-range acoustic transmissions in the ocean. This precursory experiment determined that underwater sounds
transmitted from Heard Island in the South Polar Sea could be discerned at great distances around the globe, and provided
the necessary conceptual foundation for the launch of the ATOC program in 1993. The Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate
Project was administered by the UCSD Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The purpose of the project was to investigate climate change using satellite altimetry, acoustic thermometry and climate modeling
in the North Pacific Ocean. ATOC was initially approved and the appropriate permits were successfully attained. As originally
hypothesized, data analyses from ATOC confirmed that acoustic thermometry can be used as an effective tool for measuring large-scale
ocean temperature variability. However, the project stirred considerable public controversy regarding the effects of underwater
acoustics on marine mammals. Continuous negative media attention compelled the funders of the project to withdraw their support,
and ATOC was gradually defunded and ultimately discontinued in 2006. Peter Worcester transferred the ATOC files to the SIO
Archives when the project's office closed.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of administrative files, technical documents, legal materials, correspondence and audiovisual materials
from the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate Project. Subjects of note include project publicity and the Marine Mammal Research
Program.
Arranged in six series: 1) MEETINGS, 2) LEGAL FILES, 3) PUBLICITY, 4) SUBJECT FILES, 5) CORRESPONDENCE and 6) AUDIOVISUAL
MATERIAL.
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions
Original U-matic and Betacam tape formats are restricted; however, content has been digitized and is available for viewing
upon request.
Acquisition Information
Acquired, 1998.
Preferred Citation
Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate Project Records, SAC 32. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the Regents of the University of California.
Digital Content
All content in series 6) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL has been digitized and is available for viewing upon request.
Related Materials
Communications Office Records (SAC 54) Accession 2010-28 contains 5 archives boxes of additional material on the ATOC project.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ocean tomography
Marine mammals -- Effect of noise on
Underwater acoustics
Ocean sounds -- Measurement
Acoustic Thermometry of the Ocean Climate Project -- Archives
Box 1, Folder 3
1994 February-1994 September
Box 2, Folder 1
1994 October-1995 January
Box 2, Folder 2
1995 January - 1995 June
1995 January-1995 June
Box 2, Folder 3-5
Rogers, Cindy - Notes
1992 February-1995 February
Box 2, Folder 6
Sheaham, Susan - Notes
1994 February-August
Box 3, Folder 1-6
Applications for permits
1991 January-1994 January
Box 4, Folder 1
Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Special Use Permit
1995 July
California Coastal Commission
Box 4, Folder 2
1994 April - 1994 December
Box 4, Folder 4
1995 June - 1995 November
Box 4, Folder 5
Public Hearing
1995 June 15
Box 4, Folder 6-7
Environmental Impact Statement
1994-1995
Box 5, Folder 1
Department of Fish and Game
1992 December-1994 August
Box 5, Folder 2
Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Conservation District Use Application
1994 July-1995 July
Box 5, Folder 3
General permit resources and information
1994 May-1995 February
Box 5, Folder 4-6
Great Whales Foundation, Inc. vs. California Coastal Commission, UC San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography
1994 April-1995 December
Box 6, Folder 1-2
Great Whales Foundation, Inc. vs. California Coastal Commission, UC San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography (cont.)
Box 6, Folder 3
Office of State Planning, Coastal Zone Management Program Consistency Certificate
1995 January-July
Box 6, Folder 4
Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)
1995 June-December
Box 6, Folder 5
Environmental Center, University of Hawaii.
The Hawaii State Environmental Impact Statement System: Review and Recommended Improvements
1991 July
Box 6, Folder 6
Joint Statement by U.S. Representatives Patsy T. Mink and Neil Abercrombie on the Proposed Scripps Institution ATOC Project
off Kauai
1994 April
Box 6, Folder 7-8
Permit information
1992-1995
Box 6, Folder 9
Kauai Environmental Impact Statement
1994 July-1995 August
Box 7, Folder 1-2
Kauai Friends of the Environment/DNLR, Contested Case Hearing
1995 August
Box 7, Folder 3
Letters of Protest to postpone hearing
1994 November-1995 May
Marine Mammal Permits and Authorizations (MMPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Box 7, Folder 4-6
Public Hearing for MMPA Scientific Research Permit Application No. P557A, Transcript
1994 May 16
Box 7, Folder 7-9
Public Hearing for MMPA Scientific Research Permit Application No. P557B, Transcript
1995 January 6
Box 8, Folder 1-7
Public Hearings on Scientific Research Permit Applications P557 and P557A
1994 March - 1994 April
Box 8, Folder 8-10
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS)
1993-1995
Box 9, Folder 1
Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Point Sur, Naval Post Graduate School (NPGS) Agreement
1994
Box 9, Folder 4
Reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
1994 February
Box 9, Folder 5
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund Settlement Proposal
1995 April-June
Box 9, Folder 6
State Lands Commission
1993 June
Box 9, Folder 7-8
Stepath, et al. v. Department of Land and Natural Resources. University of California Motion to Intervene
1996
Box 10, Folder 2
California Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Critical Response List
1995 January-February
Box 10, Folder 3-4
Comments Received
1994 April-1995 March
Box 10, Folder 5
Responses to Comments
1995 January-March
Box 10, Folder 6
California Environmental Impact Report
1994 May-1995 April
Box 10, Folder 7
Hawaii Environmental Impact Statement with Public Responses
1994 June-1995 May
Box 10, Folder 8
MARMAM Marine Mammal Listserv
1994 February-April
Box 11, Folder 1
MARMAM Marine Mammal Listserv
1994 February-1995 July
Box 11, Folder 2-9
Press on ATOC
1993 February-1995 March
Box 12, Folder 1-2
Press on ATOC
1995 May-December
Box 12, Folder 3
Public Scoping Meeting
1994 June 23
Box 12, Folder 4
Transcript of Public Hearing, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DNLR)
1995 July 27
Box 12, Folder 5-9
Acoustic Engineering Test (AET)/FLIP
1994 April-November
Box 13, Folder 1
Acoustic sources figures and graphics
undated
Box 13, Folder 2
Addendum to CDR Documentation Package
1993 July 16
Box 13, Folder 3-4
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), Global Ocean Climate Program Review of ATOC/GAMOT Programs
1993 June 7
Box 13, Folder 5
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), Global Ocean Climate Program Review of ATOC/GAMOT Programs
1993 September 16
Box 13, Folder 6
An Updated Array Design, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Keith van der Heydt
1993 January 21
Box 13, Folder 7
Arctic Extension (Russian Federation on Ocean Climate Change Research)
1993 April-1994 December
Box 13, Folder 8
Atlantic receivers
1993 February-December
Box 13, Folder 9-10
Cartwright, David E.
1992 February-1993 April
Box 13, Folder 11
CEROS array
1994 March-1995 February
Box 13, Folder 12
Executive Committee Agenda on Surface Suspended Acoustic Receivers (SSARs)
1993 July-September
Box 13, Folder 13
First International Meeting on Global Acoustic Monitoring of the Ocean
1992 June 8-10
Box 14, Folder 1
Global Acoustic Monitoring of Ocean Thermometry (GAMOT) SSARs
1993 November-1994 December
Box 14, Folder 2
Hydroacoustics, Inc. (HAI) Proposal
1992 May-1993 April
Box 14, Folder 3
Jervis Island Initial Source Test
1993 October 18-22
Box 14, Folder 4
Keenan, Ruth. Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), parabolic equation predictions
1993 March
Box 14, Folder 5
Marine Acoustics Inc.
1993
Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP)
Box 14, Folder 6
Administrative files
1994 February-August
Box 14, Folder 7-8
Correspondence
1991 November-1994 March
Box 14, Folder 9
Draft EIS/EIR Comments Received and Responses
1995 January
Box 15, Folder 1-5
Draft EIS/EIR Comments Received and Responses (cont.)
1995 January
Box 15, Folder 6
Oregon State University Approval of MMRP on Endangered Whales
1994 May-August
Box 15, Folder 7
Permits for Scientific Research under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
1993 September-1995 January
Box 15, Folder 8
Pilot Study Protocol Outline
1994 June
Box 15, Folder 9
Research Protocols
1994 April-1995 November
Box 16, Folder 1-9
Miscellaneous administrative files
1996 January-March
Box 17, Folder 1-11
Miscellaneous administrative files
1996 April-October
Box 18, Folder 1-2
Miscellaneous administrative files
1996 November-December
Box 18, Folder 3
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) permit application
1993 September
Box 18, Folder 5
Agreement, Joint Research on ATOC
1993 May - 1993 July
Box 18, Folder 6
Autonomous Vertical Line Array (VLA) Experiment Plan
1994 March 9
Box 18, Folder 8-9
Correspondence
1992 April - 1993 March
Box 18, Folder 10
Fishing industry
1993 July - 1993 September
Box 18, Folder 11
GLOWARM Project
1993 April - 1993 July
Box 18, Folder 12
Presentation by Mike Guthries
undated
Box 18, Folder 13
Map of possible VLA sites
1993 April
Box 18, Folder 14
Miscellaneous logistical information
1993 March
Box 18, Folder 16
Schiefen, Dave. ATOC New Zealand trip report
1993 September 10
Box 18, Folder 18
Point Sur communications configuration
1993 June-July
Box 19, Folder 1
Point Sur facility issues
1993 September
Box 19, Folder 2
Point Sur transmitter
undated
Box 19, Folder 3
Project definition documents
1993 March
Box 19, Folder 4
Project Technical Logistics, presentation materials and viewgraphs
1992-1993
Box 19, Folder 5
Report on European community interest in ATOC program
1992 September
Box 19, Folder 6-7
Russian participation
1993 January-1994 March
Box 19, Folder 8
Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR),
Acoustic Monitoring of the Global Ocean
1995 February
Box 19, Folder 9
Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), Working Group 96 Meeting
1992 June 10
Box 19, Folder 10
Second International Meeting on Global Acoustic Monitoring of the Ocean
1993 June 20-22
Box 19, Folder 11
Seminar on Propagation and Climate
1994 March 18
Box 19, Folder 12
SERDP Scientific Advisory Board
1994 January
Box 19, Folder 13
Source issues
1993 July-September
Box 20, Folder 1
Spiesberger, John. "Seasonal Trends from 1987 Basin-Scale Transmissions and Mapping Ocean Climate with Drifting Receivers"
proposal
Box 20, Folder 2
Technical Proposal
1992 June 1
Box 20, Folder 3-6
Vertical Line Array (VLA)
1993 January-1994 July
Box 20, Folder 7
Vertical Line Array (VLA) cable design
1993 May
Box 20, Folder 8
Vertical Line Array (VLA) design review, WHOI
1993 July 29-30
Box 20, Folder 9
Vertical Line Array (VLA) graphics and figures
undated
Box 32, Folder 1-9
1994 December-1995 January
Box 38, Folder 1
ARPA-Acoustic Monitoring of Global Ocean Climate (ATOC/GAMOT) status report
1993 November
General
Presentation graphics and figures, at-sea technical operations and FLIP orientation transformation. Umatic tape, color, silent
time 00:08:27. Digitized version available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 2
ATOC-Acoustic Engineering Test (AET)
1994 November
General
Onboard footage of FLIP submersible device deployment and retrieval through chute. Umatic tape, color, silent, time 00:06:55.
Digitized version available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 3
ATOC Defined - Interviews
1994 January
General
Peter Worcester, Walter Munk and Dave Schiefen. Betacam SP, color, sound, time 00:54:21. Digitized version available upon
request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 4
Arthur Baggeroer’s rendition of VLA flip test
1993 November
General
FLIP launch and at-sea technical operations. Sony Hi-8 NTSC tape, made in Japan, color, silent, time 01:00:33. Digitized version
available upon request.
Restriction
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 5
ATOC-IGPP
1993 October
General
Keith von der Heydt and Donald Edwin Koelsch of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discuss WHOI technology developed for
ATOC. Doug Peckham of Scripps Institute of Oceanography discusses SIO technology developed for ATOC. Sony Hi-8 P6-30 HMPX
tape, color, sound, time 00:19:28. Digitized version available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 6
FLIP Flops off Point Loma
1993 November
General
Onboard footage of FLIP orientation transformation. Sony 8mm Video MP-120 tape, color, sound, time 00:20:45. Digitized version
available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 7
Pt. Sur SAR #1: The Discovery
1994 September
General
Underwater footage of submersible robot interacting with sea floor devices. Hi-8 Metal P120 tape. Digitized version available
upon request. DVD user copy located in box 38, folder 11: caljsioa_mov00501073-B.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 8
Pt. Sur SAR #2: The Recovery
1994 September
General
Underwater footage of submersible robot interacting with sea floor devices. Hi-8 Metal P120 tape, approximate time 01:30:00.
Digitized version available upon request. DVD user copy located in box 38, folder 11: caljsioa_mov00501074-B.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 9
Morning Edition - ATOC Story
1994 May
General
Audiocassette recording of the National Public Radio “Morning Edition” radio program in which Joe Palka discusses the story
of ATOC. Digitized version available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 38, Folder 10
To the Best of Our Knowledge: Oceans [Interview with Walter Munk]
1995 April
General
Segment of the Wisconsin Public Radio program “To the Best of Our Knowledge on Oceans”. Audiocassette, time 00:40:17. Digitized
version available upon request.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 1
ATOC Global Array Design Software
1993 September
General
Explanation and demonstration of ATOC computer software programs. VHS tape. Digitized version available upon request. DVD
user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501094.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 2
ATOC Interview with Robert Spindel
1994 January
General
Interview with Robert Spindel at the Library of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps Institution of
Oceanography. VHS tape. Digitized version available upon request. DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501099.
Conditions Governing Access
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 3
ATOC Kauai Source Installation
1996 October
General
Deployment of submersible device from ship deck. VHS tape, color, sound (no narration). Digitized version available upon request.
DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501102.
Conditions Governing Access
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 4
ATOC Science Meeting
1993 October
General
Internal meeting, speaker presentations, remarks on marine mammal issues at 32:00:00. VHS tape. Digitized version available
upon request. DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501086-A.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 5
GAMOT MSU/NSF/ERC
1994 April
General
Animated depictions of underwater acoustic technology. VHS tape. Digitized version available upon request. DVD user copy located
in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501091.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 6
Good Morning America: Acoustic Thermometry Ocean Climate (ATOC) Experiment
1994 April
General
Joan London introduces Michael Guillen reporting on the Acoustic Thermometry Ocean Climate (ATOC) experiment at Scripps Institution
of Oceanography. Peter Worcester of SIO is interviewed on the ATOC project, and Katy Payne discusses potential adverse effects
on marine mammals. VHS tape. Digitized version available upon request. DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov0050686-A.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 7
SIO Footage R/V Thomas Thompson at Sea - ATOC
undated
General
Deployment of submersible device, in-cabin operations (computer monitoring, conversation, etc.), Peter Worcester, whale watching
segment. VHS tape. Digitized version available upon request. DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501089.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 39, Folder 8
Standard SSAR, Deployment off Bermuda
1993 November
General
Deployment of submersible device from ship deck. VHS tape, color, silent, time 00:03:00. Digitized version available upon
request. DVD user copy located in box 39, folder 9: caljsioa_mov00501104.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
