Recovery of Global Drifter 1250: A 521-Day Journey!

Ceremonial deployment of Global Drifter 1250 from Halifax in September 2005

Ceremonial deployment of Global Drifter 1250 in waters off Halifax, 18 September 2005. This event marked completion of the first element of the Global Ocean Observing System. (Photo courtesy of Diane Stanitski, NOAA Climate Program Office)

Global Drifter 1250 is examined at Brest Harbour after recovery

Global Drifter 1250 at Brest Harbour. Plenty of bio-fouling, but still ticking after a 521-day journey across the Atlantic. (Photo courtesy of Pierre Blouch, Meteo-France)

After a 521-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Global Drifter 1250 was recovered 21 February 2007 near Brest, France. The buoy’s sea surface temperature and atmospheric pressure sensors were still functioning perfectly at the time of recovery.

This special buoy’s odyssey began on 18 September 2005, in Halifax, Canada. Eighty-seven representatives from 16 countries gathered to celebrate the deployment of Global Drifter 1250 in conjunction with the second session of the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM-II). With this deployment, the global drifting buoy array achieved its design goal of 1250 data buoys in sustained service, becoming the first component of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) to be fully implemented. This milestone also represented the first element of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to be completed. Diane Stanitski and Mike Johnson from NOAA’s Climate Program Office (CPO) organized the Halifax deployment ceremony.

The buoy was retrieved 21 February 2007 by the French Naval vessel RHM Tenace, an open ocean tug, and was delivered to Meteo-France at Brest Harbour on 2 March 2007. The recovery was in itself a special event, since drifting buoys have seldom been recovered in the past. They usually disappear at sea. Pierre Blouch from Meteo-France organized the recovery mission.

In still another respect Global Drifter 1250 proved to be a very special buoy. The average life expectancy of drifting buoys is 400 days. Yet 521 days after deployment, at the time of recovery Global Drifter 1250 was still dutifully reporting its ocean observations via satellite communications to met-ocean centers around the world.

Discussion about the historic buoy’s travels and its future immediately began to cross the internet lines. It was suggested that Global Drifter 1250 be prepared for display at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Aquarium (the Institution where it was designed) for six months, and then begin a world tour of the other met-ocean centers that are collectively working to implement the Global Ocean Observing System. The JCOMM Data Buoy Cooperation Panel is developing a plan for exhibition.

Google map showing ocean track from Halifax to Brest

The 521-day trackline of Global Drifter 1250 across the Atlantic from Halifax to Brest.

Background: Drifting buoys measure ocean temperature, currents, and atmospheric pressure. They also provide the primary calibration system, or “ground truth,” for satellite measurement of sea surface temperature. The countries participating in the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel of JCOMM have been working for more than 10 years to collectively build the resources necessary to maintain 1250 buoys in sustained service. NOAA supplies approximately 1050 of the 1250 drifting buoys, and nearly half of the global ocean observing system overall. The NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography manage the global drifter project in the United States cooperatively.

Significance: The global drifting buoy array is one component of the ocean observation system of systems that is being implemented worldwide by the JCOMM Members/Member States. The United States, and in particular NOAA, is a principal contributor. The Global Ocean Observing System combines measurements from drifting and moored data buoys, profiling floats, tide gauge stations, ship based systems, and satellites to monitor and document the state of the ocean and to provide the initial conditions that drive forecast models.

Recovery of Global Drifter 1250: A 521-Day Journey!

Contact Information: