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NOAA Magazine || NOAA Home Page THE NOAA DIVING MANUAL—THE BIBLE OF PROFESSIONAL DIVERS
NOAA and its predecessor agencies have been leaders in undersea research for nearly 50 years. Many of the lessons learned and technologies developed during this time have been adopted by the scientific, recreational, and military diving communities, and made easily available to all divers through the NOAA Diving Manual, first written in 1975.
The updated 650+ page manual includes topics from more than 100 contributors on diving equipment, breathing gas mixtures, safety, first aid, marine life, and a brief history of diving. New to the fourth edition are chapters on Rebreathers Nitrox Diving, a new/user-friendly decompression chart for use with Nitrox 36 breathing mixtures, information on technical diving, an expanded chapter on diving physiology, and new information on saturation diving decompression. It also contains USN Air Decompression Tables as well as USN, Royal Navy, and COMEX Recompression Treatment Tables. The diversity of the manual ranges from polluted water diving procedures to saturation and underwater habitat diving.
"NOAA has, over the years, consistently maintained an excellent diving safety record. The diving manual draws upon the collective years of experience of seasoned experts within the NOAA Diving Program and the NOAA National Undersea Research Program, and is an essential safety tool for all divers," said Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields, NOAA Corps, director of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.
NOAA operates the largest federal civilian diving program, with more than 300 divers and averaging more than 10,000 dives per year. The NOAA Diving Program, based at the NOAA Diving Center in Seattle, Wash., trains and certifies scientists, engineers, and technicians at NOAA and other government agencies to conduct underwater research and experiments. NDP is responsible for overseeing and managing NOAA diving personnel, equipment and activities and ensuring that all diving is performed safely and efficiently. The NDP, the NOAA Diving Safety Board, and the NOAA Diving Medical Review Board work together to accomplish these objectives and to ensure the availability of properly trained divers to meet NOAA's data acquisition needs. The program maintains an excellent diving safety record through following three guiding principles: thorough training, adherence to established standards and procedures, and use of top-quality, well-maintained equipment.
NOAA's National Undersea Research Program provides a unique national service by offering scientists the tools and expertise they need to work underwater, such as access to submersibles, remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles, and Aquarius, the world's only underwater habitat/laboratory. Six regional National Undersea Research Centers support projects from Alaska to the Florida Keys.
"The NOAA Diving Manual is another tool we can offer scientists to help them do their research underwater to explore and better understand our oceans," said Barbara Moore, director of the National Undersea Research Program.
The manual is available in hardcover and soft cover editions as well as on CD-ROM. To order, visit or contact Best Publishing Company, 2355 North Steves Blvd., P.O. Box 30100, Flagstaff, AZ 86003; Tel: (800) 468-1055, ext. 10, or (520) 527-1055.
NOAA offices and programs involved in the production of the manual include the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, which operates the NOAA Diving Center, and the National Undersea Research Program. The manual is the result of a collaborative partnership among the Department of Commerce, NOAA, the National Technical Information Service, and Best Publishing.
Relevant Web Sites National Undersea Research Program Office of Marine and Aviation Operations NOAA MAKES SPLASH WITH NEW DIVING MANUAL As an Environmentally Responsible Diver... Media Contacts: |
