Meteorological Buoy Network
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) participates in the observation and collection of freshwater, marine and ocean. With the support of the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, it maintains a network of moored buoys in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and also has a buoy program in the Great Lakes. 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 Fisheries and Oceans Canada and by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The Marine Conditions application of SLGO disseminates the data of 18 buoys from that network. Data from the meteorological buoys are seasonal; therefore they are only available for the summer period between April and December. The precise effective dates vary between buoy and the NE Burgeo Bank buoy is an exception, it collects data continuously since September 2014. On the SLGO, data are available in real time and in archived format since April 2014.
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.
Characteristics of the Meteorological Buoy Network
| Name | Number | Position (lat, long) | Station Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax | 45159 | 43° 46′ 01″ N 78° 59′ 02″ W | – |
| Anticosti | 44174 | 49° 03′ 47″ N 60° 51′ 22″ W | – |
| Burgeo Bank | 44255 | 47° 16′ 48″ N 57° 21′ 00″ W | 179 |
| Georgian Bay | 45137 | 45° 32′ 24″ N 81° 00′ 36″ W | – |
| Grimsby | 45159 | 43° 46′ 12″ N 78° 58′ 48″ W | – |
| Îles-de-la-Madeleine | 44175 | 46° 52′ 37″ N 62° 00′ 00″ W | – |
| Lake Nipissing | 45152 | 46° 13′ 48″ N 79° 43′ 12″ W | – |
| Lake Simcoe | 45151 | 44° 30′ 00″ N 79° 22′ 12″ W | – |
| Lake St Clair | 45147 | 42° 25′ 48″ N 82° 40′ 48″ W | – |
| Mont-Louis | 45138 | 49° 32′ 24″ N 65° 46′ 12″ W | 335 |
| North Channel East | 45154 | 46° 02′ 59″ N 82° 38′ 24″ W | – |
| Point Escuminac | 44176 | 47° 32′ 24″ N 64° 31′ 48″ W | – |
| Port Colborne | 45142 | 42° 44′ 24″ N 79° 17′ 24″ W | – |
| Port Stanley | 45132 | 42° 28′ 12″ N 81° 13′ 12″ W | – |
| Prince Edward Pt | 45135 | 43° 47′ 24″ N 76° 52′ 12″ W | – |
| Southern Lake Huron | 45149 | 43° 32′ 24″ N 82° 04′ 12″ W | – |
| South Georgian Bay | 45143 | 44° 56′ 24″ N 80° 37′ 48″ W | – |
| West Lake Ontario – Grimsby | 45139 | 43° 15′ 36″ N 79° 32′ 24″ W | – |
