Autonomous Buoy project
As part of the NERC Oceans 2025 programme, PML were awarded a capital grant to invest in an array of autonomous buoys. Each buoy is equipped with an array of sensors to look at both atmospheric and marine parameters. These include sea surface temperature, salinity, oxygen, turbidity, fluorescence (WetLabs WQM); air temperature, humidity, windspeed and direction and atmospheric pressure (AirMar); CDOM fluorescence (WetLabs); nitrate (Satlantic ISUS) and a hyperspectral radiometer (Satlantic). All these are controlled using a Satlantic StorX logger. The SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer measures Global (Total) and Diffuse solar radiation from 400-2700nm and is being evaluated for its suitability for use at sea. An onboard Linux PC104 system controls dataflow and transmission to shore using a radiomodem link back to Rame Head. The current data rate is once per hour and data is transmitted every three hours to save on power. The buoys automatically report their position using AIS. The latest in-field data, which is strongly limited by data transmission volumes, is shown below. To access the entire, quality controlled dataset click here.
Webcam L4
