NERACOOS supports buoys in the existing Gulf of Maine and Long Island Sound Arrays:

Real-time observation from buoys supported through NERACOOS, as well as additional observations from buoys and stations in the Northeast region can be accessed through the NERACOOS Real-time Data Product.

Gulf of Maine Array:

Five of the current eleven Gulf of Maine array buoys (formerly funded by GoMOOS), deployed in the Gulf of Maine by the University of Maine will be maintained at their current locations (N, M, E, I, and B) during this project cycle.

    UMaine Buoy
  • Buoy N monitors the Northeast Channel where deep slope waters enter the Gulf of Maine with a high load of silica and nitrate that fuel the high primary productivity for which the region is renowned.
  • Buoy M monitors the water properties in Jordan Basin and thereby the inventory of the slope waters within the interior of the Gulf of Maine, the strength of the cyclonic Jordan Basin Gyre, and the impact of fluctuations such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).
  • Buoys I and E, respectively, monitor the transport in the Eastern Maine Coastal Current (EMCC) and the Western Maine Coastal Current (WMCC) on either side of a key branch point near Penobscot Bay. The difference between these transports indicates the connectivity of the two primary branches of the coastal current system and serves as a proxy for the leakage of HABs from the EMCC to the WMCC (Pettigrew et al., 2005).
  • Buoy B, in the western end of the WMCC, is well positioned for HAB monitoring since it is in a location that is impacted during major Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) events.
UNH buoyCOOA’s Great Bay Coastal Buoy will be maintained as part of the proposed project. This estuarine water-quality buoy, deployedduring ice-free seasons since 2005, has one of the most comprehensive sensor suites of any long-term buoy in the Gulf of Maine. Measurements include meteorology, temperature, salinity, current profiles, wave properties, nitrate, phosphate, colored dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll-a fluorescence, turbidity, and the above- and under- water light field at over one hundred wavelengths.

 

 

Long Island Sound Array

LISICOS BuoyThree buoys in Long Island Sound, the western-most, central, and eastern-most of the existing Long Island Sound Integrated Coastal Observing System (LISICOS) buoys, will be maintained to monitor the evolution of the circulation, hydrography, dissolved oxygen and nutrients near the connections between Long Island Sound and the adjacent basins.

 

 

Additional Resources in the Region

Region-wide:

Connecticut:

  • Three CT in river/harbor stations (not buoys per se);one of these is the new salinity gage in the CTR for climate change (a second one to beinstalled at the boundary of salt wedge) - UConn/USGS partnership project.

 

NERACOOS Buoy Partners:

University of Maine Physical Oceanography
GoMOOS
LISICOS
UCONN/USGS
NERRS