BCO-DMO BlogInstrument: Drifter Buoy
Drifting buoys are free drifting platforms with a float or buoy that keep the drifter at the surface and underwater sails or socks that catch the current. These instruments sit at the surface of the ocean and are transported via near-surface ocean currents. They are not fixed to the ocean bottom, therefore they "drift" with the currents. For this reason, these instruments are referred to as drifters, or drifting buoys.
The surface float contains sensors that measure different parameters, such as sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, wave height, etc. Data collected from these sensors are transmitted to satellites passing overhead, which are then relayed to land-based data centers.
definition sources: https://mmisw.org/ont/ioos/platform/drifting_buoy and https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/gdp/faq.php#drifter1
Two of the buoys (07413, 07440) were standard off-the-shelf Met-Ocean Ice buoys.These buoys measured barometric pressure, air temperature, and GPS position. The data were transmitted via ARGOS. The other two buoys (07949, 07950) were custom made CRREL ice mass balance buoys (photo on right). These buoys reported barometric pressure, Argos position, and air temperature. In addition they had a thermistor string that measured a vertical profile of temperature. There were acoustic sensors measuring the positions of the snow surface and ice bottom. A fluorometer was mounted under the ice. One of the buoys (07949) had three spectroradiometers; one mounted about the ice, one mounted directly below the ice, and one a few meters deep in the upper ocean.
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