Current Projects

Grand Traverse Bay Observing System

Grand Traverse Bay Observing System

In the past two years, the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories (MHL) of the University of Michigan has introduced and expanded the GTBOS as a precursor to a basin wide Upper Great Lakes Observing System (U-GLOS) network. This location in Northern Lake Michigan, was chosen as a strategic starting point for the U-GLOS for several reasons: the commerce and local economy depend almost exclusively on a pristine water quality environment; the bay is deep and "Fjord type," representing a challenge and significant step forward in environmental prediction and the direct communication between the Bay and Lake Michigan is energetic and critical. This system has demonstrated that a consistent and coordinated Open Lake observing sub-system for the Great Lakes Basin with real-time data disseminated to the public is a very valuable educational and environmental tool.

The Great Lakes Observing Systems' is the Great Lakes node of the nine regional affiliates of the national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), whose mission is the coordinated collection, compilation and management of regional observing systems' data. In keeping with the goals of GLOS and IOOS for a world-wide integrated observing system, the MHL has been working with Fondriest Environmental, local partners in the Traverse City region and the National Data Buoy Center to make the GTBOS data available nationwide on the National Data Buoy Center website where data will be available in near real-time as well as archived. Just look for buoy number 45020 and Land Station GTBM4 in Grand Traverse Bay. The data is also available in an interactive format with enhanced graphing capabilities on this site. By adding this capability of accessing and graphing historical data we hope to greatly increase the range of data users. Our goal is to make this data readily available to all those who would use it to improve coastal and marine safety, aid in predictions of climate change, manage resources for sustainable use, preserve and restore coastal ecosystems and minimize public health risks.

Traverse Bay Environmental Monitoring Buoy 2005 (PDF: 153KB)

Buoy Current Data

Weather Station Current Data

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