Each buoy has a discus shape hull with a diameter of 10 meters. Sensors for air temperature, wet-bulb temperature, solar radiation and wind speed/direction are equipped on the platform atop the mast at 7.5 meters above the sea surface. Sensors for air pressure and wave height/period are installed within the hull, at levels close to the sea surface. Those for sea water temperatures are equipped beneath the hull at 1 meter depth, and on the mooring cable at 50 and 100 meters depth from the sea surface.
The observation is usually carried out every three hours. When wind speed exceeds 35 knots each buoy changes the function automatically to one-hourly observation.
Observation data from the buoys are stored on this CD-ROM in the files named "Bnnnnn.yy", where nnnnn shows station number, yy shows year.
| Element Name | Start Pos. | Field Type | Description of Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buoy number | 1 | I5 | WMO station index number |
| Year | 7 | I4 | |
| Month | 12 | I2 | |
| Day | 15 | I2 | |
| Hour | 18 | I2 | Universal Time |
| Wind direction | 21 | I2 | Wind direction in 36 directions. |
| Wind speed | 24 | I4 | Wind speed in knots to tenths. |
| Air temperature | 29 | I3 | Temperature in degrees centigrade to tenths |
| Wetbulb temp. | 33 | I3 | |
| Air pressure | 37 | I5 | Air pressure in hPa to tenths |
| Water temp. 1 | 43 | I3 | Water temperature at 1 meter depth. |
| Wave height | 47 | I3 | Significant wave height in meter to tenths. |
| Wave period | 51 | I2 | Wave period in seconds. |
| Water temp. 2 | 54 | I3 | Water Temperature at 50 meter depth. |
| Water temp. 3 | 58 | I3 | Water Temperature at 100 meter depth. |
| Solar radiation | 61 | I3 | Solar radiation data have two types as follows: instantaneous value (0.1kW/square meter) and accumulated value (0.1MJ/square meter). The information is Here. |