Meteorological Buoy Network

Environment Canada's Environmental Monitoring Division participates in the observation and collection of marine and ocean data. With the support of the Canadian Coast Guard/Fisheries and Oceans Canada, it maintains a network of moored buoys in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The buoys collect and transmit hourly weather and sea state data 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Data is transmitted to the GOES satellite then relayed to earth stations where it is entered into the Global Telecommunications System (GTS). Archiving of data is done by the Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and by Environment Canada.

These data are used in the production of marine forecasts, as input into numerical weather prediction models for marine forecast guidance and to provide data in a data sparse area particularly valuable during the hurricane season. The buoys also provide data for climatological records which are used in many research projects and applications such as design wave climates for offshore construction.