Satellite Tracked Buoy Data 1975 - 1995

Buoys were released in the Southern Ocean (in Antarctic waters), in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, in the Tasman Sea and in The Great Australian Bight. 143 deployments were made between 1975 and 1995. The buoys were tracked by the NASA weather satellite NIMBUS-6, and later by the French System ARGOS aboard the satellite TRIOS-N. Buoy types include 4.5 m PVC/fiberglass spars (Cresswell et. al. CSIRO), 5m spars (Australian Bureau of Meteorology), and two variations of 2 m "torpedo" buoys (Cresswell, Richardson and Wood). Most of the buoys were drouged with 7.2m parachute at 20m depth. Sea surface temperature data was recorded and transmitted to satellite. Buoy drift speed and direction were calculated from successive satellite fixes.