The International Indian Ocean Expedition 1960 65 was designed to observe describe and possibly explain in the circulations of ocean and atmosphere the exchanges across their interface the chemical composition and distribution of living things in the ocean and the bottom topography and coastal structure of an ocean which is more extensive than Asia and Africa combined Involving the scientific staffs and equipment of some 25 countries 44 research vessels and numerous airborne data collecting devices and satellites the expedition was planned by a scientific committee on ocean research SCOR of the International Council of Scientific Unions and was jointly sponsored by SCOR and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO It is too soon to say what impact the data from the Indian Ocean Expedition will have upon the lives and fortunes of the teeming peoples inhabiting the littoral of the Indian Ocean However the continued study of measurements made at the interface between air and sea may lead to the discovery of how and to what degree energy is exchanged between these two interlocked systems and when related to world wide photography and radiometry by weather satellites how these data can help define the roles of the various elements in the total atmospheric circulation These and other facets of general atmospheric circulation over the Indian Ocean are being co operatively studied by Indian and American meteorologists