Buoys

[autumn sun]

Hi There,

Following on from the stormy weather of last weekend there was alot of talk of the readings from the buoys out at sea. I posted on the storm site and was directed here so hope someone could help here- who puts them out there and why in the positions they are in? What do they record and how do they survive the weather esp in the Atlantic! Also am I right in what I heard that it was a lack of them that led to to a major problem forecasting the 1987 storm?

cheers!

[shuggee]

A quick google came up with this site AS:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/rmd.shtml

Not a lot about history there - but plenty of maps to scroll around :lol:

[Nick F]

Depends where the Buoys are wrt to who own them, around the waters of the British Isles it's mainly UKMetO who own/maintain them though a few are owned by the Irish MetO, in the Bay of Biscay some are owned by UKMet and others are owned by the French metoffice.

Don't think there are many more buoys now than back in 1987, its just that computer modelling of the weather has advanced since then - so tracks of lows can be more accurately modelled further ahead than back then.

They are I guess moored by anchor to keep them postioned, and they record wind speed pressure, temp, humidity etc - data which is relayed by signal to recieving stations on land.

[Chris Knight]

Hi There,

Following on from the stormy weather of last weekend there was alot of talk of the readings from the buoys out at sea. I posted on the storm site and was directed here so hope someone could help here- who puts them out there and why in the positions they are in? What do they record and how do they survive the weather esp in the Atlantic! Also am I right in what I heard that it was a lack of them that led to to a major problem forecasting the 1987 storm?

cheers!

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml

weather for mariners! Near realtime positions for all these vessels, plus coastal stations too. The ships have names or callsigns, the buoys have just got numbers, usually. Some drift, others I guess are anchored, and all give weather reports to a greater or lesser extent when you click on them. you can check out all the seas oceans and waterways globally.

Have a look at the resources page for more information on sailwx.info

For the buoys in the arctic that monitor the Ice in the Arctic, see http://iabp.apl.washington.edu/ - really fascinating this summer

[autumn sun]

Depends where the Buoys are wrt to who own them, around the waters of the British Isles it's mainly UKMetO who own/maintain them though a few are owned by the Irish MetO, in the Bay of Biscay some are owned by UKMet and others are owned by the French metoffice.

Don't think there are many more buoys now than back in 1987, its just that computer modelling of the weather has advanced since then - so tracks of lows can be more accurately modelled further ahead than back then.

They are I guess moored by anchor to keep them postioned, and they record wind speed pressure, temp, humidity etc - data which is relayed by signal to recieving stations on land.

Thanks for your replys-I just seem to remember reading somewhere that the reason why the forecasters didnt read sooner the dramatic drop in pressure in the low pressure in 1987 was because they didnt have the readings out in the Atlantic at the time- I assumed they didnt have the raw data out there at the time but wrong I guess

Cheers for the links...

[Gibli]

Also worth mentioning are drifting buoys. These are relatively cheap and dropped overboard from ships in strategic and often remote parts of the ocean by research and other vessels. Generally speaking they measure sea temperature, air temperature and pressure. A few also measure wind strength. As with moored buoys, communications is via satellite, usually once per hour. A couple of nights ago one of these buoys recorded some exceptionally rapid falls of pressure in mid Atlantic - the only such observations - of over 20mb in 3 hours. They are battery powered and often send back information for over 12 months. Position is determined by GPS and as they drift with the currents, they often move on seemingly erratic courses. Being cheap they are expendable and I believe there are hundreds of them, roaming the seas in data sparse areas, particularly the southern oceans.

Moored buoys are tethered to a large lump of concrete (I think) to which is attached a chain and the connection to the buoy is a kind of bungee cable. This allows the buoy to roam a little within a radius of about 1 mile in rough weather. The largest ones are operated by the USA in very hostile waters, particularly in the Pacific and are up to 12 metres in diametre. If you check the NDBC site referred to above, go to the Alaska sector and select buoy 46035. It shows a picture of this buoy undergoing maintenance - the men on board give an idea of just how big the largest buoys are. Here is the link to the photo of 46035:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/images/stations/46035.jpg

Gibli

Edited December 16, 2007 by Gibli