PI: Yolande Serra

On May 9, 2025, a research-enhanced weather buoy was deployed at 40.50°N 69.25°W for an expected observing period of one year. Working alongside a team of engineers and technicians at the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), Dr. Yolande Serra's (UW/CICOES) project has enhanced weather buoy 44008 with additional surface and subsurface sensors. The station, located on the New England shelf on the north side of the core Gulf Stream current in 72 meters of water, has standard measurements of wave height and period, sea surface temperature, wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, and surface pressure available from all NDBC operational weather buoys. This project's enhancements include a current meter at 3 meter depth, subsurface temperature, salinity, and pressure sensors distributed at depths from 5 to 55 meters, an upward looking acoustic doppler current profiler at 55 meter depth, and upward looking solar and infrared radiometers mounted on the buoy tower.

With the addition of the radiation sensors, the weather buoy now provides all the components of the surface ocean heat budget, while the subsurface temperature and salinity sensors provide information about the heat content and depth of the surface mixed layer. We can additionally learn about ocean mixing and advection of heat and water properties from the wind, wave, and current measurements. Together, the added observing capabilities provided through this pilot study could lead to better understanding and prediction of the ocean's influence on storm development impacting the northeastern US, as well as marine heatwaves, coastal circulation, and ocean eddies.