Data from the sea…, the U.S. Navy´s AN/WSQ-6 (series) drifting buoy program

A prime objective of Naval Oceanography is to get data, “From the sea…,” and quickly into the hands of the Fleet operators whose safety, sensors, and systems are influenced by it. Changing world politics and economics will undoubtedly reduce the number of maritime observations in the future with increasing reliance being made on automated reporting systems. The Oceanographer of the Navy has been investigating methods to reduce reliance on single profile expendables and ship observations by development of a series of satellite reporting expendable drifting buoys. These buoys will be capable of measuring air temperature, sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, subsurface ocean temperature with depth, ambient noise, wind speed, wind direction, and directional wave spectra. These developmental buoys have been designated by the Navy as the AN/WSQ-6 (series) drifting buoys. This paper updates some of the Navy´s recent testing of these buoys and provides insight into the engineering challenges ahead for additional sensor development