PacIOOS wave buoys serving communities across the Pacific

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Fiona Langenberger, (808) 956-8784
Communications and Program Coordinator, Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
Melissa Iwamoto, (808) 956-6556
Deputy Director, Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
Posted: Oct 29, 2014

Deployment of PacIOOS wave buoy off Aunu'u, American Samoa.
Deployment of PacIOOS wave buoy off Aunu'u, American Samoa.

The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) deployed a new wave buoy in the waters off Aunu’u, American Samoa, on October 23, 2014. The bright yellow buoy is located more than three miles offshore and streams data on ocean and wave conditions. The buoy joins the existing PacIOOS network of 13 real-time wave buoys across the Pacific, providing data on wave height, direction, period, and sea surface temperature. PacIOOS also redeployed wave buoys in Hilo Bay, Hawai‘i, and Kaumalapau Harbor, Lāna‘i, after they cut loose a few months ago.

Ocean users -- including fishermen, commercial operators, surfers, paddlers and swimmers -- can access ocean data online to make well-informed and safe decisions. Real-time wave data are also vital to prepare the community, emergency responders and county officials for big wave events that could potentially impact shorelines.

“PacIOOS serves real-time wave data from Hawai‘i, the Mariana and Marshall Islands, as well as American Samoa,” says Melissa Iwamoto, Deputy Director of PacIOOS. “The new wave buoy in American Samoa will complement our network in the Pacific and will greatly support the decision-making of various agencies across the Pacific, including the National Weather Service and the National Oceanographic Data Center."

The locations of the buoys are included on navigational charts. To keep the buoys and their sensors operational, ocean users are asked not to tie to the buoys and stay clear to avoid entanglement in the mooring lines.

Data streaming for the PacIOOS wave buoys is made possible through long-term partnerships between PacIOOS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Coastal Data Information Program.

On the Web

To view real-time data, select a wave buoy: http://pacioos.org/wavebuoy

To learn more about PacIOOS: http://pacioos.org

About PacIOOS

The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) believes that ocean data and information can help save lives and resources. In collaboration with its partners, PacIOOS aims to provide sustained ocean observations in order to support decision-making and science for stakeholders who call the Pacific Islands home. Based within the School for Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, PacIOOS is the part of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®).