The GoMOOS moored buoy design

The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS) was started in part as a prototype for sustained regional ocean observing systems in energetic environments. The central observational element of GoMOOS is the real-time buoy array deployed in a region with very little history of successful year-round scientific surface mooring deployments. In addition, a sustained observing system needed an electrical and mechanical buoy architecture that could accommodate additional payloads, and the emerging sensors and technologies expected to be available over the next 5-10 years. The GoMOOS buoy system was designed with these general guidelines in mind, and is capable of accommodating on the order of 100 surface and subsurface sensors. The buoy is stable enough to perform with several hundred pounds of ice on its superstructure, and a technician can safely stand on the float to perform maintenance in light seas. The buoy is approximately 2 m in diameter and is deployable from relatively small research and fishing vessels.