These buoys help scientists learn more about how warm water of the equatorial Pacific affects world wide climate. This program consists of some 70 buoys, all located within 10 degrees of the equator between the Galapagos Islands and New Guinea. The buoys measure wind direction and speed, air temperature and humidity, and temperature of the ocean at the surface and at various depths to 500 meters below the surface. A few buoys also measure currents, rainfall, and solar radiation. Data and position are relayed by satellite to scientists around the world every day.
Researchers use the data to learn how to predict future changes in the world's climate.
El Nino events involve disruptions in the ocean surface winds and the upper ocean temperature pattern. These disruptions lead to seasonal climate variations and changes in fish migration patterns in many areas of the world ocean including the tropics. The data are also made available to weather forecasters around the world. In the tropics, there are very few locations or ships that regularly report the weather. Measurements of the observed weather conditions that these buoys record and transmit regularly are an essential ingredient in weather predictions.