Database has been updated through June 30, 2016. (As of August 2016). Download all data
Subsets of database are also available through June 2016. Download subsets of data

Many historical drogue off dates have been reevaluated. As of November 2013, the drogue reevaluation project was finished. See Lumpkin et al. (2013) [PDF] for details.

Please note: We now have 4 separate data files and their respective directory files, since we recently exceeded 20,000 records and the latest data file was getting very large. There were some modifications made to some of the older files. If you downloaded data from any data files prior to May 2016, please please reload all files since they were all updated. buoydata_1_5000.dat-gz, dirfl_1_5000.dat buoydata_5001_10000.dat-gz, dirfl_5001_10000.dat buoydata_10001_15000.dat-gz, dirfl_10001_15000.dat buoydata_15001_mar16.dat-gz, dirfl_15001_mar16.dat

A recent analysis of drifter trajectories conducted by CSIRO researcher David Griffin has shown that debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which was recovered on La Reunion Island, could have plausibly come from the region currently being searched for the aircraft wreckage.

Round the world sailors help NOAA gather data in Southern Ocean to improve forecasts that is a link to this story:

In conjunction with the Drifter Deployment Value maps, you can now download the ascii file containing assigned values, by latitude and longitude.

The first drifter deployment from the Atlantic Odyssey fleet of private sailing vessels was deployed on 26 November. For more information on these deployments, click here

In an effort to better maximize drifter deployments, the Global Drifter Program has created regional deployment maps that assign values to each of the drifters within the Drifter Array. Each drifter value is determined by the number of operational sensors, drogue presence, drifter age, and spacial coverage in conjunction with nearby drifters. Assessing these values on a regional scale will allow program coordinators to better maximize their deployment efforts and increase the quality of drifter spacial coverage. To utilize these new value maps, click here

The Global Drifter Program metadata (directory) file has been updated to reflect the reassessed drogue loss dates for a large number of drifters. For more information, refer to Lumpkin et al. (2012) (JAOT, accepted October 2012) [PDF] . Many drifters now have earlier drogue off dates; we recommend that all users of the velocity data download this update. For the latest results of the ongoing reassessment, click here.

In celebration of Earth Day,three students from the Key Biscayne K-8 Center, Key Biscayne, FL deployed a NOAA drifter today as part of the Adopt-A-Drifter Program, in partnership with students from the International Preparatory School in Santiago, Chile. The three Florida students were top winners in a competition to describe the significance of the ocean in their lives. The drifter, ID 37546, was deployed in the Florida Current and can be followed in real time here . As part of this event, Dr. Rick Lumpkin was interviewed on the Weather Channel where he described NOAA's Global Drifter Program, and the Adopt-A-Drifter outreach effort. Watch interview

All of us in the Global Drifter Program are extremely saddened at the passing of Dr. Peter Niiler of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Peter championed the need for a global array of drifters, and through decades of intense effort he saw this dream fulfilled. Peter was an exceptional scientist and an artist who fully enjoyed a rich life, and his intelligence and wit will be greatly missed.

The GDP has arranged for 36 drifters to be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. The data from these drifters is being transmitted on the Global Telecommunication System for real-time distribution, and are available in ASCII format via ftp. These drifters are being deployed in pairs, so that their relative spreading rates can be quantified. The subsequent trajectories of these drifters will map the ocean features in the Gulf, like the warm ring and the Loop Current, and help understand and forecast where these features will carry the oil.

On June 7-9, 6 drifter pairs were deployed from the R/V Walton Smith (chief scientist Michelle Wood) between the Deepwater Horizon site and the Dry Tortugas. The final two pairs were deployed close together in a convergence region where personnel aboard the Walton Smith observed oil being carried southward in a frontal jet.

In July, 12 drifter pairs are being deployed from the R/V Nancy Foster (chief scientist Ryan Smith). These deployments will be concentrated in the Loop Current and the large eddies north and northwest of the current.

For more deployment information visit our Deployment Log page. Scientists from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories (AOML), University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and the University of South Florida (USF) on board the vessel will also carry out other activities that will contribute to the monitor and research efforts in the area. Stars show beginning locations, circles the current location and shading indicates sea surface temperature measured by the drifters (degrees C, color scale at bottom). The most recent 15 days of each drifter's trajectory is shown.

Movies illustrating the Evolution of the Global Drifter Array in five year intervals, since 1979 are available here

Surface drifter data was used to help locate wreckage from Air France flight #447.

Shortly after the disappearance of Air France flight 447 on May 31, 2009 and the discovery of debris on June 2, the Drifter Data Assembly Center, in Miami, Florida, was contacted by the Hydrographic Center of the Brazilian Navy and French researchers from IFREMER, for in situ, near real time data from surface drifters in the area where the plane disappeared while crossing the Atlantic ocean in route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France. Surface drifter trajectories are useful to estimate how far currents carried the floating debris from the crash site, where heavier equipment such as the "black box" recorders sank. Several drifters were indentified in the area, and to further populate the area, and obtain higher resolution current measurements,to help the search teams locate additional debris and bodies, the Hydrographic Center of the Brazilian Navy deployed five more drifters near the area of the crash on June 14. This active collaboration with the Brazilian Navy and IFREMER follows a long history of cooperation between AOML and international partners.

These drifter data are available in real time along with currents derived from altimetry sea height anomaly fields at:

• http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/trinanes/xbt.html
• http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dataphod/work/trinanes/INTERFACE/index.html

On September 11, 2008, an array of 9 drifters (5 minimets and 4 ADOS) was deployed in front of hurricane Ike before it landed in Houston. All drifters survived deployment and successfully transmitted their data on the Global Telecommunications System (GTS). Blue dots and black track lines show trajectories of drifters deployed in front of Gustav on August 31, 2008. Data available at:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/trinanes/xbt.html (select "hurricane buoys" for "data set")

On August 31, 2008, an array of 12 drifters (6 minimets and 6 ADOS) was deployed in front of hurricane Gustav before it landed in Louisiana. All drifters survived deployment and successfully transmitted their data on the Global Telecommunications System (GTS). Data available at:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/trinanes/xbt.html (select "hurricane buoys" for "data set")

In conjunction with the US Navy and NOAA, the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) DALLAS is performing various training sessions with West African countries as follow-up to the African Partnership Station (APS), which took place in the Gulf of Guinea in early 2008. As was performed by the HSV-2 SWIFT, the USCGC DALLAS is also deploying drifting buoys in the region as part of climate research and forecasting. In total, the USCGC DALLAS will deploy 10 SVP type drifters, which will help build upon the existing data set in the region.

(Click on the figure to see a larger map).

The US Navy is presently undergoing a two-ship six month training capacity building exercise in the Gulf of Guinea. AOML, as part of this effort, is providing drifting buoys, training materials and a trainer for this component of the Navy effort. This figure shows tracks of drifters deployed by the HSV 2 Swift. On each track, the star denotes deployment position, the circle shows last transmission position (no circle means, buoy is more than 3 days behind), and the color shows sea surface temperatures in degrees C. (Click on the figure to see a larger map).
During March 11-14, Mr. Shaun Dolk from the Driter Operations Center will be in Ghana to provide drifter, float and XBT training to regional researchers.

On August 19, 2007, an array of 12 hurricane drifters (4 minimets and 8 ADOS) was deployed in the path of category 4 hurricane Dean approaching the Yucatan Peninsula, from a C-130J "Hurricane Hunter" plane. All drifters survived deployment and successfully transmitted their data on the Global Telecomunication System (GTS). Data available at:
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/trinanes/xbt.html select "hurricane buoys" for "data set".