These buoys are being tossed out of an airplane into the path of a hurricane, where they'll ride out the storm, gathering critical data to help make weather predictions, coordinate storm response, and help ships navigate safer and more efficiently. They're made by Soar Ocean Technologies, a company we

visited in San Francisco to learn about how these buoys work, how they survive the storms, and how they can make a difference. Let's get into it. Is this hurricane going to intensify? What is the path trajectory? A large part of that uncertainty is actually

associated with the fact that we don't have the data, and that's really what Spotter allows us to do. Soar makes two different types of buoys: a Spotter buoy that floats on the surface and a submersible buoy that sinks to the bottom. There are two

different purposes for the types. Um, these are our normal Spotter buoys that we have here at Soar. We've deployed thousands of these across all the world's oceans. To air-deploy it, we put this cardboard foil around the outside and, just like a shuttle on a badminton

birdie, this allows the Spotter to hold this orientation as it goes through the wind. You know, the plane's flying at more than 140 mph. The Spotter buoys remain in the ocean long-term, becoming part of a growing network of sensors

gathering data about ocean conditions, while the submersible buoys float up to the surface after the storm has passed so they can be recovered and reused. This is kind of my baby, the submersible Spotter. We've got the same electronics in the top, but it's in this tube.

shape, and that's so that it can drop down into the water and then sink to the bottom. There's this anchor, and it weighs about 35 pounds. So when the buoy hits the water and sinks to the bottom, this anchor gets embedded, and as the

hurricane passes over, the anchor keeps it from getting pushed away. In 2024, these buoys were deployed in front of hurricanes Francine, Helen, and Milton. You can see on these maps how the buoys deployed off the coast of Florida to

monitor Hurricane Helen remained in place to continue gathering data when Hurricane Milton showed up just a few weeks later. And if I take it apart—I'm going to flip it upside down here—and this one's pretty dirty because we've air-deployed it a few times and

recovered it. This red stick is a pressure sensor. When this is sitting at the bottom of the water, we can tell, just exactly—like within centimeter accuracy—what the water level is, and that way we can detect storm surge. One of the biggest dangers of a hurricane is

associated storm surge; this is the rising of the water level. The system can't transmit its data until it comes back to the surface, so we have to have a way of releasing it from the anchor. That's where this comes in. This little device is made out of two different types of

metals. About 5 days after it hits the water, this dissolves away and it releases from its anchor and floats up to the surface. The data that we're getting, especially from the submersible buoys, is unprecedented. No one's been able to measure storm surge in the way

that we were able to that'll tell us where we can evacuate people, um, and how bad the storm's going to be. These buoys were deployed in collaboration with the National Oceanic Partnership Program (NOPP), and the surface spotter buoys are

available for purchase, starting at $6,600. If you'd like to learn about buoys that can generate power, check out this video right here. And if you had a good time, please like, subscribe, and comment down below what you think about these data-gathering storm surfers.

As always, thanks so much for watching. I'm your host, Jesse Orall. See you next time with the fam.

Tossed Into a Hurricane: Hardcore Buoys Gather Critical Data

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Introduction to Spotter Buoys and their Purpose

Air-deployed buoys gather data during hurricanes for weather prediction, storm response, and safer ship navigation.

Data scarcity contributes to uncertainty in hurricane intensity and path prediction.

Soar Ocean Technologies produces surface and submersible Spotter buoys.

Surface buoys are air-deployed using a cardboard foil for stability during deployment.

Surface buoys form a long-term sensor network, while submersible buoys are recovered after the storm.

Submersible Spotter Buoy Design and Function

Submersible buoys have similar electronics but a tube shape for sinking and anchoring.

A 35-pound anchor keeps the buoy in place during the hurricane.

Deployment in hurricanes Francine, Helen, and Milton demonstrated the buoys' effectiveness.

A pressure sensor measures water level with centimeter accuracy to detect storm surge.

Storm surge detection is crucial for hurricane safety and evacuation planning.

A biodegradable device releases the buoy from its anchor after about 5 days.

Data from submersible buoys provides unprecedented storm surge measurements.

The buoys were deployed in collaboration with the National Oceanic Partnership Program (NOPP).

Surface Spotter buoys are available for purchase.