EMECO

Scottish WaveNet deployment complete

The Scottish extension of the WaveNet network of buoys that monitor wave activity around the UK is now complete.

A total of 4 Directional Waverider buoys have now been deployed around the Scottish coast. Their deployment is an important extension of the existing WaveNet network.

The WaveNet network currently consists of around 40 active buoys, that measure sea surface temperature, wave features (e.g. height, period, direction), and wind speed and direction. The data is transmitted to Cefas via satellite and is available on the WaveNet website in near real time.

The new buoys are located at Moray Firth and Firth of Forth on the east coast and West of Hebrides and Blackstones on the west coast. The buoys will aid the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in its development of coastal flood defence and forecasting. The buoys will also support SEPA in building an historical record of the wave climate around Scotland.

With 27,000 properties around Scotland at risk from coastal flooding and the suggestion that storms in the UK are becoming more frequent and severe, accurate and timely flood warnings are becoming increasingly important. Data from the Scottish buoys have already been integrated with the UK Met Office forecasting models and are showing promising results.

The chart below shows wave height measured by the Blackstones wavenet buoy (green line) compared with wave height forecast by the UK Met Office model (purple line) for 12-13th March 2009.

Real time and historical data and observation verses forecast data for all WaveNet buoys is freely available from the WaveNet website.