Sep 13, 2008 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Smart Buoy Tracks Bay Changes; New Buoy Deployed
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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It's called a Smart Buoy. It tracks strong storms like Hurricane Ike and shows centuries of change in the Chesapeake Bay.
As weather watchers keep track of the severe weather in the Gulf Coast, a piece of intelligent technology is too.
It's called a Smart Buoy.
As
Gigi Barnett reports, Maryland just deployed a new one this weekend.
They can track strong storms like Hurricane Ike and show centuries of change in the Chesapeake Bay.
"When we think about restoring the Chesapeake Bay, the benchmark that we always use is what was the bay like 400 years ago when John Smith first saw it," said Doug Wilson, NOAA oceanographer.
It's a buoy that helps scientists like Wilson track the progress of storms.
The Smart Buoy can watch the water, check the wind and report it all on-line in real time.
"It's not like you sample it once and then you come back two weeks later and you sample it again and have no idea what went on in between. You've got the full picture," said Wilson.
The buoys make the bay safer, and they do it faster.
"If we have a storm, we can evaluate how serious it is a lot quicker. We can give warnings out a lot quicker," said Senator Ben Cardin.
Boaters and bay watchers like Michel Kozak, who lives on the Susquehanna River, need that kind of information.
"We have such a beautiful area here. We don't have to go very far to enjoy a lot of water and a lot of river, and this will give us an opportunity to know what's happening in all of those areas," said Kozak.
Right now, there are four buoys in the Chesapeake. A fifth will go into the Susquehanna. It will be the northern most buoy in the system.
"We hope that there will be more than one more," said Cardin. "You look around you, and you see this beautiful scenery, and you say, 'Gee I think this will be here forever.' But things are really happening that could jeopardize that."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration mans the buoys. Next week, the agency will deploy another buoy in the Chesapeake near Norfolk, Va.
The Smart Buoys cost about $120,000 each.
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