Sponsor
The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and insightful comments that helped strengthen the quality of this manuscript. A.N., M.S, and D.B gratefully acknowledge funding by Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. A.N., M.S., M.P, K.L., and E.R were also supported by National Science Foundation Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research #2415106. R.B would like to thank the U.S. Department of Energy Waterpower Technologies Office for support through the Powering the Blue Economy Initiative. K.L. acknowledges funding from the state of Washington through the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute in CEI Graduate Fellowship. M.P. acknowledges partial support from the National Science Foundation Award # 2415106. M.S. was also supported by Office of Naval Research grant N00014-21-1-2868, National Science Foundation grant OPP-2138316, and NASA grants 80NSSC21K0832 and 80NSSC20K0768.
Published In
Marine Technology Society Journal
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Subjects
Buoy systems -- environmental impact, Buoy networks -- cost analysis
Abstract
An approach to scalable surface-drifting buoys is needed to enable the high spatial and temporal resolution of oceanographic data that the science and meteorological communities are asking for. With the number of active buoys predicted to increase by a factor of 100 or more, the impact on the environment becomes even more important. Here, we present a pathway to a scalable and sustainable generation of buoys. We identify the main criteria to be used when developing such buoys to be low cost, with reliable data and neutral or even positive environmental impact. For each buoy subsystem—hull, electronics, energy generation and storage, sensors, and communication system—cutting-edge technological solutions are presented, many of them from emerging research in marine or other disciplines. We then assess the potential solutions against the design criteria and plot a path toward small, environmentally friendly, low-cost, and low-power buoys.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.4031/MTSJ.59.1.8
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43612
Citation Details
Nawaz, A., Steele, M., Branch, R., Burnett, D., Liao, K., Parker, M., & Roumeli, E. (2025). Ecobuoys for Scalable Oceanography. Marine Technology Society Journal, 59(1), 36-50.
