Navigation buoy brief introduction

Navigation buoys are navigational markers that float on water. Anchored to the bottom by anchor chains. Buoys are widely used to mark the extent of the channel and to indicate shoals or obstacles that threaten navigation. It is an unmanned automatic ocean observatory, which is fixed in a fixed sea area and rises and falls with the waves like beacons on both sides of a waterway. Although it is inconspicuous in the sea, but it is not small, it can survive in any harsh environment for a long time.

Generally speaking, the main structure of ocean monitoring buoy is composed of floating body, mast, mooring and counterweight, and the function module is mainly composed of power supply, communication control and sensor. The water mast is mainly used to carry solar panels, meteorological sensors and communication interruption, etc. The underwater part is equipped with hydrologic and water quality sensors that measure hydrology (wave, current, temperature, salt and depth) and water quality (concentration of chlorophyll, algae and related substances dissolved in seawater). The signal produced by each sensor is processed automatically by the instrument and sent out at a regular time by the transmitter. The ground receiving station will receive the signal for processing and get the information needed by people. Some buoys are built far from land and send signals to satellites, which then relay them to receiving stations on the ground.

Most navigation buoys are powered by batteries. But because the navigation buoy is far from the land, it is not convenient to change the battery, many navigation buoys are equipped with solar energy storage equipment, and some also use wave energy storage, which greatly reduces the number of battery change, so that the navigation buoy is more convenient and economic.