NOAA Diving Manual

The book summarizes the state of the art for scientific diving,[1] and provides detailed but accessible explanations of the physics and physiology of diving, diving equipment, and diving procedures, at a level appropriate for the diving scientist and scientific diving team supervisor.[2]

The book is subdivided into sections and pages are numbered with reference to the section number. Sections of the second edition include:[2]

• The physics of diving – Aspects of physics which affect the underwater diver
• Diving physiology – Influences of the underwater environment on the physiology of human divers
• Training of divers – Training divers who will be doing scientific work underwater
• Diving equipment – Equipment used to facilitate underwater diving
• Breathing media – Gas used for human respiration
• General diving and emergency procedures – Standardised methods of doing things that are known to work effectively and acceptably safely
• Working diving procedures – Work done underwater during diving operations
• Scientific diving procedures – Use of diving techniques in the pursuit of scientific knowledge
• Regional and special diving
• Air diving and decompression
• Mixed gas and oxygen diving
• Saturation diving – Diving decompression technique
• Surface support platforms
• Manned underwater support platforms – Human habitable underwater enclosure filled with breathable gas
• Aquatic animals hazardous to divers
• Hyperbaric chambers – Hyperbaric pressure vessel for human occupation
• First Aid – Emergency first response medical treatment
• Accident management

The appendices include:[2]

• References
• Selected bibliography
• NOAA Diving Regulations
• US Navy Standard Air Decompression Tables
• NOAA Nitrox I Diving and Decompression Tables
• US Navy Recompression Treatment Tables
• Nitrogen-Oxygen Saturation Treatment Table
• Index

The 4th edition was well received by Briscoe and Carmichael 2002 in Volume 15 of Oceanography[1]

Although subtitled as Diving for Science and Technology, the NOAA Diving Manual is considered a useful reference for all fields of underwater diving.[1]

The first edition was published by the US Department of Commerce in 1977,[1]

The second edition was published by the US Department of Commerce in 1979 in hard? and soft cover. The editor was James W. Miller.[1][2]

The third edition was published in 1991,[1]

The fourth edition was published by Best Publishing Company in 2001 in hardcover, softcover and searchable CD-ROM versions The new material in the 4th edition includes the use of "oxygen-enriched air," commonly called Nitrox, which is widely used in both scientific and recreational diving to reduce the risk of decompression sickness.[1][3]

The fifth edition was published in paperback by Best Publishing Company on June 10, 2013, with 875 pages. ISBN 978-1930536630 [4]

The sixth edition was published in paperback and as an e-book by Best Publishing Company on July 31, 2017, with 800 pages, ISBN 978-1930536883. New chapters in the 6th edition are: Advanced Platform Support – diving with ROVs/AUVs, submersibles, and atmospheric diving systems, and Underwater Photography and Videography. Other chapters were significantly revised: Diving Equipment, Procedures for Scientific Dives, Rebreathers, and Polluted-Water Diving. The editor was Greg McFall.[5]