Drifter (floating device)

A drift buoy is a buoy with no attachment to the ground. Other common names are drifters, Driftboje, float (s) and floating drifters. Drifting buoys are used in marine research, but also in inland waters to collect measurement data such as ocean currents, water temperatures (particularly sea surface temperature), salinity or weather data. Today's drifting buoys transmit their data often via satellite to a ground station.

The size and design of the drifting buoys are completely different and depending on purpose and area of ​​use. Thus, for example, have drifting buoys, which should follow as closely as possible an ocean current, often an undersea drift sail, to minimize the distorting wind and wave influences. Modern drifting buoys can have GPS or Argos transmitters. So today a precise link between the measurement data of the buoy with their respective position is possible. If the suspension of a drift buoy in busy waters, as can occur in some cases even a warning to shipping.

Marine Treibbjojen were first used in 1955 by the United States and Great Britain.

Programmes and projects

GEOSS

As part of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), the Global Ocean Observing System ( GOOS ) project exists. Since 2005 a total of 1250 drifting buoys were exposed to measure the currents, temperature and salinity of the oceans and the air pressure at sea level.

ARGO

In an international research program ARGO ( floats there usually called ) were from 1999 to 2007 a ​​total of 3,000 drifting buoys everywhere exposed in all oceans.

These floats with a length of about two meters and a mass of about 30 kg have an expected term of office of four to five years. They sink in each 10 -day cycle to a depth from 1500 to 2000 meters and then dip briefly to the sea surface to transfer the measurement data to a satellite.

As part of the ARGO Programme 2007 drifting buoys were suspended by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic also to October.