# West Grand Traverse Bay data buoy



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Buoy to provide data to scientists, public
Maritime ship to anchor it next month

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jun/19buoy.htm

By Tom Carr [email protected]

TRAVERSE CITY  A buoy to be moored in West Grand Traverse Bay next month will beam air and water temperatures and wave and wind data to scientists, teachers and your personal computer.

A crew aboard the Great Lakes Maritime Academy's training ship will anchor the buoy near Power Island to monitor environmental information and tie in with other buoys around the Great Lakes.

"A big part of this for us is using the buoy for education," said Tim Ervin, co-director of the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute at Northwestern Michigan College that's spearheading the project.

The buoy will cost about $40,000 and is paid for by DTE Energy, as part of a $265,000 grant the company awarded to the college last year. 

Most of the grant has gone to help start the DTE Energy Freshwater Institute for Teachers through NMC, which instructs teachers on how to teach students about freshwater issues and stewardship.

Plans are to put the buoy east of the middle of the bay just south of Power Island.

The training ship State of Michigan will take it there on July 8 after the National Cherry Festival's Cherry Royale Parade, where DTE will have a float bearing a replica of the buoy.

People will be able to view information from the buoy on the Internet. 

It will be part of a network of buoys throughout the Great Lakes that researchers will use to compile data and do research on the lakes, said Steve Rawlings, regional manager of DTE in Traverse City.

The buoy also will have the capacity to add more data-collecting instruments. 

It will be about the size of a pick-up truck inner tube with a 5-foot antenna on top. 

It's under construction in Norway by Aanderaa Data Instruments.

It will be held in place by a 1,000-pound anchor manufactured and donated by Elmer's Crane and Dozer.

The University of Michigan also is involved in the project and expects to use much of the available data, as will the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rawlings said.

The buoy will be removed from the bay during the winter.


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