Hydrographic Institute launches buoy derived from Global Drifter Program (GDP)

The Hydrographic Institute (IH), supported by Sagres School Ship, launched this summer 4 drifting buoys that are contributing to the GDP programme. The first buoy was launched on 25 July to 6 nautical miles, the equivalent of about 11 kilometres southwest of the Cape of São Vicente, with the other 3 buoys launched in early August to 250 nautical miles, equivalent to about 11 kilometres southwest of the island of Tenerife.

The GDP program is the main component of the Global Surface Drifting Buoy Array, a branch of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) of the National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration of the United States of America (NOAA), and a scientific project of the Boia Data Cooperation Panel (DBCP), with the main objective: to monitor the oceans and climate with in-situ data, through the launch of large numbers of drifting buoys that transmit, in real time, their position, the surface temperature of the sea, the salinity of the sea, atmospheric pressure, and the direction and intensity of the wind, allowing, among others, the study of ocean currents and ocean climate change. 

The IH, in this cooperation with the NOAA, contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (UN) 13 and 14, respectively, Climate Action and Marine Life Protection.

Find out more about the GDP program, and follow the real-time data at https://www.aoml. noaa.gov/phod/gdp/. 

The identification codes of the buoys launched by the IH are (WMO ID): 1301730, 1301725, 1301726, 1301731