Drifting buoy data quality and performance assessment at the National Data Buoy Center

A description is given of the first large-scale, centralized, drifting-buoy data quality program, initiated in April 1988 by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), an agency within the US National Weather Service (NWS). This program is leading to improved meteorological observations in data-sparse oceanic areas and hence can improve operational numerical analyses and prognoses. All North American drifting buoy reports enter the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) in Washington, DC. The Service Argos US Global Processing Center places the reports in DRIBU format and sends them to the NWS IBM 4341 computer system, where the data are subjected to gross range and time-continuity checks before dissemination of the GTS. More stringent checks are then performed at NDBC by data analysts in near-real time. The close monitoring of drifting buoy sensor data permits analysis of system reliability and performance, which can be used in general evaluation of hardware quality