Coastal buoys, uses in the coastal maritime field.

Waves are one of the variables that most condition coastal maritime activities. Coastal observation systems are concentrated in ports, where economic activity is centred. Recent studies assess the effects of climate change on productivity or impacts on structures and their negative repercussions on the economy. But it is not only seaports that are affected, but there are also many coastal maritime activities in the food, tourism, energy and private sectors, etcetera, whose economy is highly conditioned by the ocean-meteorology and its changes.  In the Basque Country, many towns face the sea and the highest density centres are on or near the sea.

Through the study of observations of coastal phenomena we can improve our warning systems and provide useful information for the management of coastal maritime activities.

In order to optimise and improve the safety of these workplaces, knowledge of the ocean-meteorological conditions is required to adapt the work and make it safer. Knowledge of the environment requires the implementation of observation networks, modelling of the environment and integration of existing observations. The Basque coast and beaches have a great morphological variability from west to east, making it a very attractive study area. Furthermore, land-sea interactions are complex because they are intermediate, complex areas, where very local phenomena occur, observed with different networks, administration, and competences.

The University of the Basque Country, in collaboration with the Tecnalia research centre and the Basque Government emergency and meteorology department, is planning, studying, and implementing the installation of a coastal buoy in order to obtain better information on sea conditions in an area with a high level of coastal maritime activity, in front of busy beaches and close to the perimeter of the port of Bilbao.

The collaboration between the manufacturer (Zunibal S.L.), university (UPV/EHU), research centre (TECNALIA) and Basque Government (DAEM) for the exploitation of the information and study of the time series and how to use the information in different applications, are presented in this work.