Data Buoy

Leading up to the 21st century, the United States supported decades of dam construction in major waterways across the country. Many of these dams were hydroelectric facilities built in order to provide energy to nearby towns and cities. Unfortunately, these dams deteriorated the surrounding environment and harmed aquatic life. Many of these dams cut off […]

In 2022, Otsego Lake in New York became one of many lakes to experience its first cyanobacterial bloom. While the cause is still unknown, the blooms may be an indicator of various water quality issues resulting from invasive species, runoff events or other environmental stressors. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Kiyoko Yokota, […]

Beaches full of swimmers are a common sight during the warm summer months. Perhaps never more so than during the 2022 heat wave that swept across Europe and brought record-high temperatures to many areas. With warmer temperatures and more beachgoers looking to cool off with a swim in the sea, water quality at popular beach […]

Shark sightings along California’s beaches are increasing. Legislation enacted in the 1990s has effectively helped shark populations recover from overfishing in prior decades that depleted both sharks and their food supply. While scientists and environmentalists view this resurgence of sharks as a positive for the ecosystem, it has another effect - more frequent occurrence of […]

Two solitary data buoys floating off the storm-tossed Lake Superior shore near Munising and Granite Island were sudden stars in 2017. That October, they captured the largest waves ever measured on the Great Lakes—each 28.8-foot high—during a storm that claimed the lives of two people swept off rocks. This attention-getting event shows how buoy data […]

Beginning in the 1990s, researchers have collected samples manually every few weeks on trips to Lake Champlain to gather data on its dynamics. But the metrics the team has collected are spotty, considering the faster-paced changes fueled by a changing climate. To help fill in those holes, researchers from the State University of New York […]

For more than 100 years, the Stannard Rock Lighthouse has kept a watchful guard over Lake Superior. But now, a new weather buoy is joining the watch in a remote part of Lake Superior, providing much-needed weather data to local mariners, the National Weather Service (NWS), and researchers. Scientists from the Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), […]

A complex series of locks and dams up and down the Ohio River enable interstate commerce, travel, and recreation. But maintaining a usable pathway for watercraft comes at a cost. The inevitable byproducts of disrupting the river’s natural systems are a threat to local wildlife. To combat this, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) […]

Sebago Lake is the second largest lake in Maine—one of the only lakes in the nation with clean enough water for use by a drinking water facility without filtration requirements. Residents of the Greater Portland area are the beneficiaries, and they are invested in maintaining their lake's health. A joint project between the Portland Water […]

Corals around the world are under threat. The buoys of the Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) help face that threat, providing the entire world with weather patterns and data about climate change from their home in the Caribbean Sea. Since June 2018, a new, state-of-the-art oceanographic buoy has added ocean state and weather data […]