May 01, 2017

A buoy is a floating device that has many purposes on the water.  Free floating, drifting or stationary, most serve a greater purpose for boat navigation, weather or communication device. There is even a buoy called the sonobuoy that is used by anti-submarine warfare aircraft to detect submarines by sonar.  Buoys have come a long way from the good ole styrofoam buoy we used to tie our laser sailboat up to.

How Does an Ocean Buoy Work?

 

 

Ocean buoys measure a whole range of weather variables such as wave height, swell period and direction, wind speed and direction, air and water temperature, and barometric pressure.

These heavy and colored weather stations are usually placed by national meteorological centers in open ocean.

In the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the organization responsible for deploying weather buoys, operating and collecting data from each floating device.

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