FM 18 XII - Report of buoy observation
Code Form:
Section Number |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | MiMiMjMj | A1bwnbnbnb | YYMMJ | GGggiw | QcLaLaLaLaLa | LoLoLoLoLoLo | (6QlQtQA/) |
1 | (111QdQx | 0ddff | 1snTTT | {2snTdTdTd or 29UUU} |
3P0P0P0P0 | 4PPPP | 5appp) |
2 | (222QdQx | 0snTwTwTw | 1PwaPwaHwaHwa | 20PwaPwaPwa | 21HwaHwaHwa) | - | - |
3 | (333Qd1Qd2 | (8887k2 | 2z0z0z0z0 | 3T0T0T0T0 | 4S0S0S0S0 | - | - |
3 | - | - | 2znznznzn | 3TnTnTnTn | 4SnSnSnSn) | - | - |
3 | - | (66k69k3 | 2z0z0z0z0 | d0d0c0c0c0 | - | - | - |
3 | - | - | 2znznznzn | dndncncncn)) | - | - | - |
4 | (444 | (1QPQ2QTWQ4) | (2QNQLQAQz) | {(QcLaLaLaLaLa L oLoLoLoLoLo) or (YYMMJ GGgg/)} |
(3ZhZhZhZh 4Z cZcZc/) |
(5BtBtXtXt) | - |
5 | (555 group to be developed nationally) |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
Notes:
- BUOY is the name of the code for reporting buoy observations.
- A BUOY report or a bulletin of BUOY reports is identified by MiMiMjMj = ZZYY.
- The inclusion of the group 9/ZdZdZd is strongly recommended for buoys which have been deployed with drogues.
- The group 9/ZdZdZd should not be used in reports from a buoy on which a drogue has never been installed.
- The code form is divided into six sections, the first being mandatory in its entirety, except group 6QlQtQA/,
and the remainder optional as data are available:
Section Number |
Symbolic figure group |
Contents |
---|---|---|
0 | - | Identification, time and position data |
1 | 111 | Meteorological and other non-marine data |
2 | 222 | Surface marine data |
3 | 333 | Temperatures, salinities and current (when available) at selected depths |
4 | 444 | Information on engineering and technical parameters, including quality control data |
5 | 555 | Data for national use |
Regulations:
Notes:
- A1bw normally corresponds to the marotime zone in which the buoy was deployed. The WMO Secretariat allocates to Members who request and indicate the maritime zone(s) of interest, a block or blocks of serial numbers (nbnbnb) to be used by their environmental buoy stations.
- The Member concerned registers with the WMO Secretariat the serial numbers actually assigned to individual stations together with their geographical positions of deployment.
- The Secretariat informs all concerned of the allocation of serial numbers and registrations made by individual Members.
18.1 | General |
---|---|
- | The code name BUOY shall not be included in the report. |
18.2 | Section 0 |
- | All groups in section 0 are mandatory, except group 6QlQtQA/, and shall be included in each report, even if no other data are reported. |
18.2.2 | Each individuual BUOY report, even if included in a bulletin of such reports, shall contain as the first group the identification group MiMiMjMj. |
18.2.3 | Group A1bwnbnbnb |
- | Only buoy numbers (nbnbnb) 001 through 499 are assigned. In the case of a drifting buoy, 500 shall be added to the original nbnbnb number. |
- | |
18.2.4 | Groups QcLaLaLaLaLaLoLoLoLoLoLo |
- | Positions shall be reported in tenths, hundredths or thousandths of a degree, depending on the capability of the positioning system. When the position is in tenths of a degree, the groups shall be encoded as QcLaLaLa// LoLoLoLo//. When the position is in hundredths of a degree, the groups shall be encoded as QcLaLaLaLa/LoLoLoLoLo/ |
18.2.5 | Group (6QlQtQA/) |
- | QlQtQA are quality control indicators. Ql and QA apply to position and Qt to time. |
18.3 | Section 1 |
18.3.1 | Each of the groups in section 1 shall be included for all parameters that have been measured, when data are available. |
18.3.2 | When data are missing for all groups, the entire section shall be omitted from the report.. |
18.3.3 | Group 111QdQx |
- | Qd is a quality control indicator for the section. If all data groups have the same quality control flag value, Qd shall be coded with that value and Qx shall be set to 9. If only one data group in the section has a quality control flag other than 1, Qd shall be coded with that flag and Qx shall indicate the position of this group within the section. If more than one data group have a quality control flag greater than 1, Qd shall be set to the greater flag value and Qx shall be set to 9. |
- | Note: When Qx shows the position of the data group, it should be relative to the group containing Qx. For example, Qx=1 refers to the data group immediately following. |
18.4 | Section 2 |
18.4.1 | Each of the groups in section 2 shall be included for all parameters that have been measured, when data are available. |
18.4.2 | When data are missing for all groups, the entire section shall be omitted from the report.. |
18.4.3 | Group 222QdQx |
- | Regulation 18.3.3 shall apply |
18.5 | Section 3 |
18.5.1 | General |
- | Section 3 is in two parts. The first part, identified by the indicator group 8887k2, shall be used to report temperatures and/or salinity at selected depths. The second part, identified by the indicator group 666k69k3 shall be used to report current at selected depths. Either or both parts shall be transmitted, depending on the availability of the temperature and/or salinity data for the first part and of the current data for the second part. |
18.5.2 | Temperatures shall be reported in hundredths of a degree Celcius. When accuracy is limited to tenths of a degree, data shall be encoded using the general form 3TnTnTn/. |
18.5.3 | Group 333Qd1Qd2 |
- | Qd1Qd2 are two quality control indicators. Qd1 is used to indicate the quality of the temperature and salinity profile and Qd2 is used to indicate the quality of the current speed and direction profile. |
18.6 | Section 4 |
18.6.1 | General |
- | Additional groups in this section shall be included as data are available or required. |
18.6.2 | Group (1QPQ2QTWQ4) |
- | When QP, Q2, QTW and Q4=0, the corresponding group shall not be transmitted. Its absence thus indicates a satisfactory general operation. |
18.6.3 | Group (2QNQLQAQz) |
- | QN gives the quality of the satellite transmission. QL and QA are indicators on the quality of location. Q z indicates whether probe depths as reported in Section 3 are corrected using hydrostatic pressure or not. |
18.6.4 | Group (QcLaLaLaLaLa) |
- |
This group shall be transmitted only when QL=2 (location over one pass only). It gives the latitude of the second possible solution (symmetrical to the satellite subtrack). Note: Same coding as in section 0. |
18.6.5 | Group (QcLaLaLaLaLa) |
- |
This group shall be transmitted only when QL=2 (location over one pass only). It gives the latitude of the second possible solution (symmetrical to the satellite subtrack). Note: Same coding as in section 0. |
18.6.6 | Group (LoLoLoLoLoLo) |
- |
This group shall be transmitted only when QL=2 and it gives the longitude of the second possible position, the latitude being indicated by the previous group. Note: Same coding as in section 0. |
18.6.7 | Groups (YYMMJ GGgg/) |
- | The groups YYMMJ GGgg/ give the exact time of the last known position and shall be transmitted only when QL=1 together with the following group 7VBVBdBdB. |
18.6.8 | Group (3ZhZhZhZh) |
- | Hydrostatice pressure of lower end of cable. Pressure is expressed in kilopascals (kPa = centibar). If group 3 is present, then group 4 is mandatory. |
18.6.9 | Group (4ZcZcZc/) |
- | Length of cable in meters (thermistor strings). |
18.6.10 | Group (5BtBtXtXt) |
- | Group 5 would be omitted if buoy type and drogue type information is not available. |
18.6.11 | Group (6AhAhAhAN) |
- | Group 6 could be omitted if the buoy is not reporting wind or the information is not available for both anemometer height and anemometer type. AhAhAh is the anemometer height above station level, expressed in decameters. For drifting and moored buoys, station level is assumed to be sea level. /// can be used for unknown values. A value of 999 can be used to say that anemometer height is artificially corrected to 10 meters by applying a formula. |
18.6.12 | Group (7VBVBdBdB) |
- | This group shall be transmitted only when QL=1. Example: At the last location, the true direction of the buoy is 47 degrees and its speed is 13 cm/s - the group is coded 71304. |
18.6.13 | Group (8ViViViVi) |
- |
The number of groups 8ViViViVi containing information on the engineering status of the buoy shall not exceed three. Notes
|
Symbolic Letters:
- AN
- Anemometer type (code table 0114)
- A1
- WMO regional association area in which buoy, drilling rig or oil- or gas-production platform has been deployed (1 = Region I; 2 = Region II, etc.) (code table 0161).
- AhAhAh
- Anemometer, in decameters, height above station level.
- a
- Characteristic of pressure tendency during the three hours preceding the time of observation (code table 0200).
- BtBt
- Buoy type (code table 0370)
- bw
- Subarea belonging to the area indicated by A1 (code table 0161).
- c0c0c0
…
cncncn - Speed of the current, in centimeters per second, at selected and/or significant depths starting with the sea surface.
- dd
- True direction, in tens of degrees, from which wind is blowing (or will blow) (code table 0877; stations within 1 degree of the North pole use code table 0878)
- d0d0
…
dndn - True direction, in tens of degrees, towards which sea current at selected and/or significant depths starting with the sea surface is moving (code table 0877).
- dBdB
- Drift direction of the buoy, expressed in tenths of degrees, at the last known position of the buoy given in the groups YYMMJ GGgg/.
- ff
- Wind speed in units indicated by iw
- GGgg
- Time of observation, in hours and minutes (UTC). This is the actual time of launching the bathythermograph.
- HwaHwa
- Height of waves, obtained by instrumental methods, in units of 0.5 metres.
- (1) The average value of the wave height (i.e. vertical distance between trough and crest) shall be reported or forecast, as obtained from the larger, well-formed waves of the wave system being observed or forecast.
- (2) Height of the waves less than 0.25 m shall be coded 00, height of the waves from 0.25 m to less than 0.75 m shall be coded 01, height of the waves from 0.75 m to less than 1.25 m shall be coded 02, etc.
- HwaHwaHwa
- Height of waves, obtained by instrumental methods, in units of 0.1 metres.
- (1) See Regulation 12.3.3.5 for the use of HwaHwaHwa
- See note (1) under HwaHwa
- iw
- Indicator for source and units of wind speed. (code table 1855)
- J
- Units digit of the year (UTC), i.e. J = 4 for 1994.
- k2
- Method of salinity/depth measurement (code table 2263).
- k3
- Duration and time of current measurement (vector or Doppler current profiling method) (code table 2264).
- k6
- Method of removing the velocity and motion of the ship or buoy from current measurement (code table 2267).
- LaLaLaLaLa
- Latitude, in thousandths of a degree.
- LoLoLoLoLoLo
- Longitude, in thousandths of a degree.
- MM
- Month of the year (UTC), i.e. 01 = January; 02 = February, etc.
- MiMi
- Identification letters of the report (code table 2582)
- MjMj
- Identification letters of the part of the report or the version of the code form (code table 2582)
- nbnbnb
- Type and serial number of buoy.
- PwaPwa
- Period of waves, obtained by instrumental methods, in seconds.
- (1) See note (1) under PwaPwaPwa
- PwaPwaPwa
- Period of waves, obtained by instrumental methods, in tenths of a second.
- (1) PwaPwaPwa shall be reported in addition to PwaPwa when the following conditions have been met:
- (a) The sea is not calm (i.e. PwaPwaHwaHwa has not been reported as 0000);
- (b) PwaPwa has not been reported as //);
- (c) The station has the capability of accurately measuring instrumental wave period in units of 0.1 second.
- PPPP
- Pressure at mean sea level, in tenths of a hectopascal, omitting the thousands digit of hectopascals of the pressure value.
- P0P0P0P0
- Pressure at station level, in tenths of a hectopascal, omitting the thousands digit of hectopascals of the pressure value.
- ppp
- Amount of pressure tendency at station level during the three hours preceding the time of observation, expressed in tenths of a hectopascal.
- QA
- Location quality class (code table 3302)
- QL
- Quality of location (code table 3311)
- QN
- Quality of the buoy satellite transmission (code table 3313)
- QP
- Quality of the pressure measurement (code table 3315)
- QTW
- Quality of the measurement of the water-surface temperature (code table 3319)
- Qc
- Quadrant of the globe (code table 3333)
- Qd
- Quality control indicator (code table 3334)
- Qd1
- Quality control indicator for temperature/salinity profile (code table 3334)
- Qd2
- Quality control indicator for current profile (code table 3334)
- Ql
- Quality control indicator for position (code table 3334)
- Qt
- Quality control indicator for time (code table 3334)
- Qx
- Indicator of position of group.
See regulation 18.3.3. - Qz
- Indicates whether or not depths are corrected using hydrostatic pressure (code table 3318).
- Q2
- Quality of the housekeeping parameter (second word in first block of ARGOS platform transmitters terminal sensor data). (code table 3363)
- Q4
- Quality of the measurement of air temperature. (code table 3363)
- S0S0S0S0
…
SnSnSnSn - Salinity, in hundredths of a PSU (Practical Salinity Units), at either significant or selected depths starting with the sea surface.
- sn
- Sign of the data and relative humidity indicator (code table 3845)
- TTT
- Air temperature, in tenths of a degree Celsius, its sign being given by sn
- TdTdTd
- Dew-point temperature, in tenths of a degree Celsius, its sign being given by sn
- See regulation 12.2.3.3.1
- TwTwTw
- Sea-surface temperature, in tenths of a degree Celsius, its sign being given by sn
- T0T0T0T0
…
TnTnTnTn - Temperatures, in hundredths of a degree Celsius, at either significant or selected depths starting with the sea surface. For negative temperatures, 5000 shall be added to the absolute value of the temperature in hundredths of a degree Celsius.
- UUU
- Relative humidity of the air, in per cent, the first figure neing zero except for UUU=100 per cent.
- See regulation 12.2.3.3.1
- VBVB
- Drifting speed, in cm/s, of the buoy at the last known position of the buoy given in the groups YYMMJ GGgg/.
- ViViViVi
- Information on the engineering status of the buoy
- XtXt
- Drogue type (code table 4780)
- YY
- Day of the month (UTC), with 01 indicating the first day, 02 the second day, etc., on which the actual time of the observation falls.
- ZcZcZcZc
- Length of cable, in meters. (thermistor strings)
- ZdZdZd
- Length of the cable at which the drogue is attached, in meters.
- ZhZhZhZh
- Hydrostatic pressure of lower end of cable, expressed in units of kPa (i.e. centibars).
- z0z0z0z0
…
znznznzn - Selected and/or significant depths, in meters, starting with the surface
- /
//
… - Missing data. The number of slashes depends on the number of symbolic letters for which no data can be reported.
- Date modified: