Last week the ICON team completed the coding and testing of a feed of data from the newly-installed Saipan Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) station to the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). The National Weather Service (NWS) has assigned the designation LLBP7 to this new CREWS station. Unlike all previous CREWS stations, which feed six-minute wind data but only hourly measurements of all other parameters, the Saipan CREWS station feeds NDBC with 6-minute data for winds, air temperatures and pressures, sea temperatures and salinities, and chlorophyll and turbidity data. This level of detail is made possible through the use of a digital cellular modem at this station, which is a communications technology that allows direct, constant and realtime access to the station data and programming, unlike other CREWS stations which transmit hourly by GOES (satellite) or via local radio connections. The Saipan data will now be included in the NWS operational stream and will be made available globally for research and operations.
The NDBC page for the Saipan CREWS station can be found here.
Mike Jankulak
[The photo (credit: Ross Timmerman) shows the installation of the station's control unit (or "brain") last month, which was the final step in bringing the CREWS station online. Clicking on the image will load the original, larger version.]