The Environmental Sensors Presently Used by the National Data Buoy Center

Buoys and coastal stations installed by the National Data Buoy Center in and along the coast of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes routinely measure and report the value of several oceanographic and meteorological variables. These environmental measurements are made automatically and synoptically at all the measurement sites. The collected data are communicated to shore, on an hourly schedule via the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). A description of the environmental sensors installed at the measurement stations is presented. Their general characteristics are given, together with their measurement accuracy and field performance. The environmental variables monitored on an almost continuous basis by NDBC buoys and shore stations are: wind velocity, atmospheric pressure, air temperature, water temperature, atmospheric humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, atmospheric visibility, ocean currents, and sea surface gravity waves. Other variables are monitored infrequently.