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Data Buoy Co-Operation Panel

Activity Areas (1)

Marine Services

DBCP - The Data Buoy Cooperation Panel
The Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP), was established in 1985 as a joint WMO/IOC initiative (see Terms of Reference). It was originally concerned only with drifting ocean data buoys, but in 1993 expanded its activities to also encompass moored data buoys on the open ocean. It addresses the requirements and needs for real-time or archival data from buoys, both drifting and moored, coordinates buoy deployments worldwide, and provides a forum for the exchange of technical and related information on buoy technology, communications systems and the applications of buoy data, to both operations and research.
DBCP logo

The Panel coordinates its activities with other programmes such as the WWW, GOOS and GCOS. The implementation of buoy deployments is coordinated at the regional level through Action Groups:

  • The DBCP-PICES North Pacific Data Buoy Advisory Panel (NPDBAP) (established by the DBCP and PICES in 2002)
  • The Surface Marine Programme of the Network of European Meteorological Services (E-SURFMAR) (joined as EGOS in 1987, then as E-SURFMAR in 2005)
  • The Global Drifter Programme (GDP) (joined in 1996)
  • The International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) (established by Panel in 1991)
  • The International Buoy Programme for the Indian Ocean (IBPIO) (established in Panel in 1996)
  • The International South Atlantic Buoy Programme (ISABP) (established by Panel in 1994)
  • The Tropical Moored Buoy Implementation Panel (TIP) (joined in 1998)
  • The WCRP-SCAR International Programme for Antarctic Buoys (IPAB) (joined in 1994)
  • The International Tsunameter Partnership (ITP) (joined in 2008)

The panel is supported by a full-time technical coordinator (see Terms of Reference), and maintains its own DBCP web site.

DBCP groups and contact points:

Useful DBCP items or links:

 

(page last updated  April, 2024)