Wave Buoy Logger for Coastal Studies

Yu. Yu. Yurovsky*, O. B. Kudinov

Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia

* e-mail: y.yurovsky@mhi-ras.ru

Abstract

The paper presents prototype wave buoy loggers designed to collect raw data from a built-in inertial motion unit without transmitting the data to the user. These buoys require maintenance but have a significantly simpler design and much lower cost compared to unattended analogs, making them particularly useful for various coastal studies. The study aims to demonstrate that measuring wave parameters in field conditions with acceptable accuracy is achievable without loss of data quality. The buoys were tested in a field experiment at the Black Sea Hydrophysical Sub-Satellite Polygon of Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Reference measurements were obtained using wire wave gauges installed on the Stationary Oceanographic Platform (44.393047°N, 33.984596°E). Three identical buoys were deployed near the platform using different mooring configurations: a heavy anchor with an elastic insert (rubber cord), a heavy anchor without an elastic insert, and a buoy suspended directly from the platform without an anchor. Continuous measurements were conducted over seven days, during which significant wave height varied from 0.2 to 1 m, and wind speeds ranged from 0 to 15 m/s, coming from easterly, westerly, and northerly directions. Under these conditions, the root-mean-square error in estimating significant wave height was no more than 5–6 cm (both with and without the rubber cord), with the linear regression coefficient deviating from 1 by less than 5%. The root-mean-square errors for the spectral peak wave period and direction were 0.37–0.62 s and 50–65°, respectively. These errors are comparable to the resolution of the applied methods and the natural statistical variability of wave parameter estimates.

Keywords

buoy, wave gauge, inertial measurements, wind waves, wave parameters, oceanographic platform, field experiment

Acknowledgments

The work was funded by the Russian Scientific Foundation grant 24-27-00153 “Measuring waves with small buoys: methods, validation, prospects of miniaturization”.

For citation

Yurovsky, Yu.Yu. and Kudinov, O.B., 2025. Wave Buoy-Logger for Coastal Studies. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of Sea, (3), pp. 115–127.

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