Meteorological models routinely utilise observations from various sources around the world to make their forecasts. Buoy data are crucial to this process, because the buoys are deployed in ocean areas where no other source of data is available. For the same reason, buoy data is essential for producing improved marine forecasts.
Sea surface temperature is an important tool for finding many different species of fish. The buoys provide this information to weather centres which produce charts of sea surface temperature and distribute them to fishermen. Several nations have successfully used surface wind and ocean current information from the buoys to help locate missing or overdue vessels.
