Wave Energy (Catch That Wave!)

[Lizzy14]

Hey Everyone,
I'm having a bit of a problem with my science project .I saw an interesting project on this website about a week ago titled Catch That Wave, and I decided that I would would have enough time to complete it before the due date (Mar. 2nd); however, I'm having quite a lot of trouble locating the three onshore buoys that I need in order to finish this project! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you,
Lizzy

[norman40]

Hello Lizzy14,

The National Data Buoy Center website has a map showing the locations buoys around the world. The markers on the map are color coded. The yellow markers indicate buoys with recently collected data. Orange and red markers are for buoys with historical data or with no data for the last 24 hours. For this project you should look for yellow-marked locations.

As indicated in the project procedure, not all yellow buoys have wave data. There are buoys with wave data in the Great Lakes, Maine, North Carolina and Southern California. You can navigate to these regions with the links on the right-hand side of the National Data Buoy Center page. For example, here is a link for a buoy off the North Carolina coast: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=41110

I hope this helps and good luck with your project. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

[Lizzy14]

Hello A. Norman,
Thanks for answering my question! I had no problem locating the buoys that were not on land, but I still can't seem to find the ones located onshore. I was thinking about it, and it's kind of confusing because if you're trying to find a buoy that has dominant wave period and significant wave height, wouldn't it have to at least be in water? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem and instead have to look for ones inland instead.
Thank you,
Lizzy

[norman40]

Hi Lizzy14,

I think you are correct – a buoy must be in the water to measure the wave height and period data. My suggestion for the “onshore” locations is to look for buoys that are “nearshore”. Two examples on the North Carolina coast are at these links:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44056

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=ssbn7

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

[Lizzy14]

Hello A. Norman,
Thank you so much for clearing that up! Everything makes a lot more sense and now I know what I have to do .
Thanks again,
Lizzy