refitted with new and improved components and sensors. The buoy, 

 originally developed for the Office of Naval Research, was 

 transferred to the Coast Guard and then to the Data Buoy Office, 

 when that group was formed within NO A A's National Ocean Survey 

 to develop a national system of environmental data reporting buoys. 



The Atlantic buoy (designated EB-01 for Environmental Buoy 

 Number 1) has already made noteworthy contributions to the 

 weather watch along the densely-populated east coast. In the three- 

 year period in which it has been functioning, the buoy has been one of 

 the prime sources of data which revealed the formation of more than 

 50 major storms off the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts. The 

 data from the buoy contributed significantly to more accurate and 

 timely predictions of heavy snowfalls, flooding rains, high winds 

 and seas, and destructive tides and storm surges, with a resultant 

 savings in life and property, business, and transportation. 



Originally, the buoy was instrumented with meteorological, 

 limited oceanographic, and engineering sensors, an on-board 

 computer system, power supply, and, for self-preservation, radar 

 reflectors and navigational lights. As refitted, the buoy's 

 instrumentation now monitors solar radiation, precipitation rate, air 

 temperature and pressure, dew point, wind speed and direction, 

 surface water temperature and current velocity, and wave motion. 



The buoy is programmed to check all its sensors once per hour, 

 record the data, and transmit them every three hours to the Coast 

 Guard Radio Station, Miami, Florida. They are then sent to NOAA's 

 National Meteorological Center, Suitland, Maryland, and finally to 

 other users via regular weather networks. The buoy is capable of 

 more frequent interrogation on request when needed for critical 

 monitoring periods. 



Experience gained from the Atlantic buoy has contributed to the 

 development of the buoys anchored in the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Gulf of Alaska. The EB-10 buoy in the Gulf of Mexico, located about 

 225 miles southeast of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has been 

 periodically reporting environmental data since it was anchored in 

 June 1972. 



This massive buoy is designed to withstand severe weather and 

 sea conditions, including 150-knot hurricane winds, 60-foot waves, 

 and 10-knot currents. Its platform carries meteorological sensor 

 packages at levels of 15 and 30 feet, and a hull-mounted 

 oceanographic sensor package. It will eventually be fitted with 12 

 oceanographic sensor packages at various levels down to 1500 feet. 



The buoy in the Gulf of Alaska (EB-03), deployed in the sub-Arctic 

 waters in October 1972, is similar in design to the EB-10. Its 

 stationing in the Gulf of Alaska is providing an on-site test of the 

 ability of the experimental buoys to withstand particularly severe 

 environmental conditions. Meteorological information transmitted 

 by this buoy aids weather forecasting for Alaska and the west coast 



72 



