First Buoy Launched
The physical oceanography group at the University of Maine has completed fabrication and testing of the first coastal data buoy for the US Caribbean region. This buoy, patterned after the successful GOMOOS buoy design will provide realtime data on winds, waves, currents, seawater temperature and salinity. CariCOOS Data Buoy A will be emplaced near the Puerto Rico insular shelf break off Caja de Muertos Island in early June 2009 at 17° 51.58'N 66° 31.36' W. Data from this buoy should be representative of conditions along the Caribbean coasts of PR and the US Virgin Islands. Data will be useful to mariners in general and will also be employed in validating numerical models of ocean conditions.
