PORTABLE SPOTTER BUOY STREAMS DATA LIVE TO GLOS FOR THE FIRST TIME
June 23, 2020
Photo courtesy of Sofar Ocean
This month, a basketball-sized Spotter buoy began sending data to GLOS, (the Great Lakes Observing System) making it the first buoy of its kind to be part of the GLOS network.
The buoy, deployed in Lake Superior on April 21 near Gay, Michigan, is operated by Michigan Technological University (MTU). It’s being used to support marine weather forecasts for dredging operations at the Keweenaw stamp sands near Buffalo Reef.
Spotter buoys are a creation of Sofar Ocean, a San Francisco-based marine technology company.
John Lenters, a scientist with MTU’s Great Lakes Research Center operates the buoy and said they opted for this type over conventional buoy designs because of its affordability, portability, and satellite data connection.
“So far, we’re pretty pleased with the Spotter buoy,” Lenters said. “We’ve measured a few 3-5 foot wave events so far, including the recent passage of tropical depression Cristobal.”
Lenters noted that they do, occasionally get erroneous data spikes, but that those could be due to the mooring design.
See the live data. This website also offers data for the other GLOS buoys located throughout the Great Lakes.
