The Meteorological Buoy and Coastal Marine Automated Network for the United States (1998) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 NOAA's Present and Proposed Coastal Ocean Buoy and C-MAN Network
2 NOAA's Present and Proposed Coastal Ocean Buoy and C-MAN Network
Pages 13-24
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From page 13... ...
This chapter describes the present network and the network proposed by NOAA. PRESENT COASTAL OCEAN BUOY AND C-MAN NETWORK The main purpose of the NOAA buoy/C-MAN network is to provide reliable, accurate, and cost-effective atmospheric and oceanic observations in support of weather forecasting, especially including the issuance of marine warnings to the general public as well as ah public and private coastal interests.
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From page 14... ...
for the conterminous United States as of 30 September 1997 including commissioned, accepted, installed,and planned ASOS stations. (Courtesy ofWendell Nuss,Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School)
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From page 15... ...
In recognition of the importance of maintaining an enhanced high-caliber buoy/C-MAN network consistent with the ongoing NWS modernization and restructuring and the increased NWS responsibilities for coastal marine warnings and public safety issues, NOAA's Office of Meteorology prepared a MAROB network initiative in 1994. An_ ~::~:N -_.~' Alaska .e,.
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From page 16... ...
However, they cannot observe the offshore wind structure in the lowest part of the atmosphere below 1-2 km near the coast, and below 24 km more than 100 km offshore due to the effect of the Earth's curvature and the spreading of the radar beam with distance from the radar location. Because of these natural geometric effects, Doppler radars cannot observe 16 Meteorological Buoy and Coastal Marine Automated Network
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From page 17... ...
techniques to estimate surface winds based upon Doppler wind observations several kilometers above the ground, these statistical techniques depend upon the availability of surface observations within the radar surveillance area for development, validation, and refinement. However, the NOAA core, basefunded buoy/C-MAN station network shown in Figure 5 and the current existing station network mapped in Figure 6 are unable to provide the critical offshore weather observations needed by NWS forecasters to meet their required coastal marine warning responsibilities.
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From page 18... ...
Weather disturbances interact with coastal topography and the associated heating and cooling contrasts between land and ocean that change with the time of day and the time of year. Important mesoscaTe weather variations also can occur because of smaller scale differences in SST, water depth, current structure, 18 Meteorological Buoy and Coastal Marine Automated Network
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From page 19... ...
Likewise, in many cases of hazardous weather, thick high clouds often obscure near-surface wind and sea-state signatures. These observed mesoscaTe weather variations, so important to operational forecasters charged with coastal marine warning responsibilities, are inherent features of coastal storm systems.
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From page 20... ...
The purpose of the MAROB network is to improve marine environmental monitoring and prediction by increasing the availability of automated marine observations along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, Alaska, near Hawaii, and near Puerto Rico and the U.S.Virgin Islands. 20 Meteorological Buoy and Coastal Marine Automated Network
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From page 21... ...
, and the Caribbean and tropical western Atlantic Ocean (Figure 13~. The MAROB plan adds just under 200 moored buoys and C-MAN stations to the network (above the current base-funded total of 69 C-MAN and moored buoy stations)
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network as originally proposed by NOAA in the MAROB plan and as further modified in this report for the waters surrounding the conterminous United States. (Courtesy of Douglas R
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(Courtesy of Douglas R Scally, National Data Buoy Center)
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From page 24... ...
Note, however, that the proposed MAROB network still would leave significant discontinuities in station density between water and land areas (see also Figure 8~. Although the warning responsibilities of NWS forecasters remain unchanged across the coastlines, there are fewer data available offshore to meet warning responsibilities in an admittedly more hazardous region.
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