There are two types of buoy, Low latitude type and Mid-High latitude type. Figure 1 shows the system configuration of both type. The difference between both type is mainly in the under water sensors, i.e. in case of Mid-High latitude type the CT sensors are fitted down to the depth of 1,500m, however Current meter is not fitted at the depth of 10m.
4. Schedule of development
Development of buoy system was started in FYI 994, and total 31 buoy will be built by the end of FY1999. Table 1 shows the schedule of buoy development.
5. Prototype buoy system
The prototype buoy was built in order to verify the basic design and obtain various data for building actual buoy through open sea trial. Basically, prototype buoy is same with the actual buoy of Low latitude type except of which mooring system is a little bit heavier than that of actual buoy considering roughness of the sea area. The sensor system has smaller number of meteorological and oceanographic sensors than that of actual buoy, but additional motion sensors for buoy behavior analysis are equipped on.
Table 2 shows the outline specifications of prototype buoy system and Figure 2 the general arrangement, Figure 3 the system configuration.
The differences between prototype and actual buoy (Low latitude type) are as follows;
