Wave measuring buoy
The wave measuring buoy (Datawell DWR4 buoy) measures the direction and height of waves. The buoys move with the water surface and measure wave height and directions with accelerometers. This type of wave measuring buoy also measures the water temperature, GPS position and current speed and direction. This is possible without a fixed setup. However, a good and flexible anchoring system is required for proper operation.
A receiving antenna is required to receive the wave height and direction message from the wave measuring buoy. The communication between buoy and antenna is via a high-frequency radio signal, which moves along the water surface.
At the reception locations, each wave measuring buoy has its own receiver. This is set to the exact frequency of the buoy and converts the buoy signal into a message. This message is processed via the Landelijk Meetnet Water (LMW) (National Water Monitoring Network)
The wave height and the GPS position of the buoy can be read on the receiver. When multiple buoys are processed via a receiving location, the radio signal is split to the different receivers via an antenna splitter.
Data
The data collected with the wave height radar can be found in various places:
- Rijkswaterstaat Waterinfo and Rijkswaterstaat Waterberichtgeving provide access to hydrological data from the LMW chain.
- The Digital North Sea Alliance website provides access to hydrological data for a number of wind farms in the North Sea
Customers and applications
Customers include wind farm operators, energy traders, Rijkswaterstaat, the KNMI, skippers of Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), major seaports, (commercial) shipping, the Coast Guard, incident organizations and recreationists.
The data is used for climatological research, maritime research and the development, calibration and validation of models.