NOAA Launches Fourth Bay “Smart Buoy”
The Rappahannock River buoy was launched near Stingray Point and the historic town of Deltaville, Va.
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July 2008 --The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has launched its latest interpretive buoy at the mouth of the Rappahannock River, providing real-time weather and water quality information to boaters along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
The Rappahannock River buoy, located near Stingray Point and the historic town of Deltaville, Va., is the fourth buoy in the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS). Boaters can use their cell phones to dial up the interpretive buoy closest to their destination to find out wind speed, wave height and water temperature. The CBIBS website also offers historic and environmental information about each buoy site.
Students and educators can also use CBIBS to study historic and real-time data at the four buoy locations. Students that visit the buoy sites by boat and make water quality observations can enter the data on the CBIBS website to share it with other students around the Bay.
The Stingray Point buoy joins interpretive buoys at Jamestown and on the Potomac and Patapsco rivers. Other buoys are planned for Norfolk and Havre de Grace.