ASIS—A New Air–Sea Interaction Spar Buoy: Design and Performance at Sea

Abstract

This paper describes a new, compact buoy, the Air?Sea Interaction Spar (ASIS), capable of reliably and accurately measuring directional wave spectra, atmospheric surface fluxes, and radiation in the the open ocean. The ASIS buoy is a stable platform and has low flow disturbance characteristics in both atmospheric and oceanic surface boundary layers. The buoy has been deployed for sea trials in the waters off Miami, Florida; in the northeastern region of the Gulf of Mexico; and in the northwestern Mediterranean. The acquired measurements of directional wave spectra, momentum and heat fluxes, and profile data?as well as general meteorological and oceanographic parameters?obtained from the buoy are well suited for enhancing research on air?water interfacial processes, wave dynamics, remote sensing, and gas transfer. In this paper the design is described and the performance of the buoy using field data is characterized.