National Data Buoy programme is a new initiative designed particularly for long- term monitoring of various meteorological and oceanographic parameters in the coastal and deep waters of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian ocean. The objective of the programme is to make available the data to the users like National Institute of Oceanography, India Meteorological Department, Oil Natural Gas Commission, Shipping , Ports etc.

It is proposed to procure a set of 15 buoys, out of which, 12 will be deployed in the seas around India. Eight will be moored in the coastal waters and 4 in the off-shore waters. All the buoys will be equipped with the state-of-the-art sensors for the measurement of various meteorological and oceanographic parameters viz. wind, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, waves, sea surface temperature, salinity and currents. In addition, 4 buoys to be deployed near four major ports of India would be equipped with water quality sensors to measure chlorophyll, radioactivity, turbidity, hydrocarbons, nutrient and dissolved oxygen. Indian satellite (INSAT-2B) is proposed to be used for the on-line transmission of the data from the buoys to the shore stations. The project is proposed to be implemented over a period of 4 years with partial financial assistance from Norway.