Brief description
This is a metadata record for the Crowdy Head offshore wave data buoy (station code WAVECRH) operated by Manly Hydraulics Laboratory (MHL), NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). The buoy is moored off Crowdy Head at a water depth of approximately 80m. This metadata record includes a down-loadable .pdf summary document which includes a map with numbered deployment locations and a listing of deployment number, location, water depth and deployment period. Data from October 1985 to August 2011 was gathered by the Waverider system developed by the Dutch company, Datawell. The Waverider system uses an accelerometer mounted in a loose tethered buoy (0.7 or 0.9m in diameter) to measure the vertical accelerations of the buoy as it moves with the water surface. The accelerations are integrated twice within the buoy and the displacement signal so obtained is then transmitted to a shore station where it is processed to provide wave data statistics. In August 2011, the station was upgraded with a Datawell Directional Waverider buoy. The Directional Waverider buoy utilises a heave-pitch-roll sensor, two fixed X and Y accelerometers and a three axis fluxgate compass to measure both vertical and horizontal motion. An on-board processor converts the buoy motion to three orthogonal (vertical, north-south, east-west) translation signals that are transmitted to the shore station. The directional spectrum is also routinely transmitted to the receiving station for further processing. This buoy also collects sea surface temperature (SST) data from thermistors that are mounted inside the hull of the buoys, at the base of the buoy about 0.5m below the water surface. The wave and SST data are stored on the receiving station PC before routine transfer to Manly Hydraulics Laboratory via email.Lineage
Statement: Prior to a six to eight month deployment, the operation of a Waverider buoy is tested on the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory Waverider buoy calibration rig to ensure it meets the manufacturers operational specifications. Wave data are transmitted from the Waverider buoy to a shore station where it is processed to produce wave data statistics. The recorded bursts of wave data (normally 34 minutes long starting on the hour) are digitised at 0.5-second intervals (or 0.78-second intervals for a Directional Waverider buoy) and the data are conditioned to remove any erroneous data points. The data are then analysed using two procedures: zero crossing analysis and spectral analysis. The wave data is routinely quality controlled (usually twice per week) using a wave data quality control program developed by Manly Hydraulics Laboratory. The wave data statistics are examined and raw data and spectral plots are viewed by an experience operator to check for any anomalies. Wave statistics from adjacent Waverider stations are also compared to assist in the identification of any "out of range" values. Erroneous wave data records are removed and good quality data is flagged as "Quality Controlled" in the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory wave database. The sea surface temperature data (SST) is routinely quality controlled (usually twice per week) using a quality control program developed by Manly Hydraulics Laboratory. The SST data gathered by the buoy is regularly compared to the latest available satellite derived sea SST images available from the Bluelink ocean forecasting web pages to ensure the integrity of the dataset. Erroneous SST records are removed and good quality data is flagged as “Quality Controlled” in the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory SST database.Notes
CreditData collection funded by NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH)
Waverider buoy system and data management undertaken for OEH by NSW Public Works Manly Hydraulics Laboratory
Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by the Australian Government.
Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN). AODN is supported by the Australian Government.
Created: 03 11 2010
text: westlimit=152.852; southlimit=-31.83; eastlimit=152.863; northlimit=-31.8; projection=EPSG:4326
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(Crowdy Head buoy deployment summary)
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