Buoys & Moorings

Moorings are platforms are anchored, i.e. moored, to the ocean floor and can include a floating structure, or buoy, at the surface ocean. A number of sensors and technologies can be affixed moorings and buoys  for a single purpose such as waves or include a variety of sensors mounted both above and below the water surface.  Most moorings and buoys relay data back to shore in real-time. Profiling buoys include sensor packages that regularly move up and down the mooring providing a comprehensive look at the water quality.  Buoys can be outfitted with sensors for wind, waves, currents, salinity, chlorophyll a, and other ocean chemistry and biology parameters.

Moored platforms in the CeNCOOS region include:

CDIP Wave Buoys

The coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) specializes in wave measurement, swell modeling and forecasting, and the analysis of environmental data.

MBARI M1 Climatology

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has created a climatology series for their longest deployed mooring. M1 climatology

NDBC Buoys

The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) through NOAA maintains a network of ocean buoys along the west coast of the

Pt Reyes Wave Climatology

The longest continuous wave record along the coast of California is the Pt. Reyes CDIP buoy.

Bodega Mooring Climatologies

The Bodega Ocean Observing Node (BOON) is at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (which is part of the University of California,