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Down East Instrumentation, LLC Delivers 2nd Real-Time Monitoring Buoy System to Client

by Jeffrey Kinder

03/09/2009

Down East Instrumentation, LLC of Cary, NC has delivered and installed a second real-time meteorological & oceanographic monitoring buoy system to the Carolinas Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (Carolinas RCOOS). The first system was delivered and deployed off the coast of Wilmington, NC in May 2008 and has been continually operating since then at their ILM2 site. This latest system complements their array of real-time monitoring buoys and coastal platforms that comprise the observational component of the RCOOS. Carolinas RCOOS is a sub-regional component of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS); a federal-regional partnership working to provide new tools and forecasts to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. The buoy system is also an addition to the inventory of monitoring assets maintained by the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), of which Down East is a member. The Carolinas RCOOS supports the mission of SECOORA (www.secoora.org) to meet geographically specific needs and enhance the nation's ability to observe and understand US waters.
The system was successfully deployed in Feb. from the R/V Savannah, operated by the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. It is currently situated at the FRP2 site off the coast of Hilton Head Island, SC. The buoy is outfitted with Down East’s Automated Buoy Weather Station, a turnkey atmospheric sensor package designed and built specifically for the harsh conditions associated with coastal and deep water buoy moorings. Atmospheric parameters measured include air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity and wind speed and direction. An on-board GPS receiver tracks the buoy’s watch circle and keeps its controller/data logger real time clock synced to UTC (Universal Coordinated Time). Additionally, a Sea-Bird Electronics (Bellevue, WA) SBE-37 Micro Cat is integrated into the system to provide sea surface temperature and salinity. All of the sensors are sampled once an hour and the data is telemetered to shore using the Iridium (Bethesda, MD) satellite communications network. Data received is posted to the Carolinas RCOOS website (www.carolinasrcoos.org).

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