PacWave Site Observations

This data submission contains raw and near-real-time updated data from FLOATr (Fixed Location Ocean and Atmosphere Tracking) buoys, Sofar Spotter wave buoys, and Nexsens meteorological buoys at sites in the PacWave open-ocean testing facility operated by Oregon State University, located off the coast of Newport, Oregon.

There are two sites located at PacWave, aptly named PacWave North (PWN) and PacWave South (PWS). PWN is an autonomous test site located 2 nm offshore, has a water depth of 45-55 m, and is between 44.68 & 44.70 degrees North and 124.12 & 124.15 degrees West. PWS is a grid-connected test site located 6 nm offshore, has a water depth of 65-78 m, and is between 44.55 & 44.58 degrees North and 124.21 & 124.24 degrees West.

The FLOATr buoys provide meteorological measurements of wind speed and direction, air temperature and pressure, shortwave radiation (light). An onboard CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) sensor (Seabird SBE 37-SM MicroCAT) provides measurements of water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Down-looking ADCPs (RDI Workhorse 600 kHz) installed on the FLOATr buoys provide observations of water velocity. Buoys are named with a 3 digit number that increases for each deployment.

The wave buoys (Spotter and Nexsens) provide measurements of standard and directional wave statistics as well as additional metocean variables, depending on the firmware version installed. Data are provided in the original json file format as pulled from the cloud API, and processed data are provided in netCDF4 format. Raw Spotter CSV datafiles are uploaded sporadically as the buoys are recovered and SD cards retrieved. Nexsens buoys are named with a 3 digit number that increases for each deployment.

Bottom deployments of Nortek Signature250 ADCPs were deployed between Apr 2024 - Jul 2025 measuring water velocity and surface waves. These data are provided in the raw native ADCP format and processed files in netCDF format.

Processed data are provided in netCDF4 format based on Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) standards. Note, minimal quality control has been conducted on these data.

Processed and Raw data can be accessed via the "PacWave Observation Data on AWS" resource below. For links to specific datasets see the "PacWave Data Structure Table" resource.

Raw data from the FLOATr buoys are stored in CSV files with the following filenames:
- ADCP.dat (subsampling of ADCP binary data - Teledyne Sentinel Workhorse 300khz)
- Airmar_buffer.dat (Airmar WX200 instrument serial data buffer)
- gga.dat (gps Degree & Decimal Minutes)
- hdg.dat (magnetic heading, deviation, variation)
- hdt.dat (heading true)
- mda.dat (meteorological composite)
- Met.dat (multiple data values from various sources (instruments, nmea strings) into a single data table) - best for quick data checks
- mwv_r.dat (calculated mean wind velocity_relative)
- mwv_t.dat (calculated mean wind velocity_true)
- Ocean.dat (CTD data - Seabird SBE16, temp, conductivity/salinity, 02)
- zda.dat - (time and date)

Raw data from the FLOATr ADCPs and CTDs are made available in their native binary format.
Telemetry data from the Spotter and Nexsens buoys is stored in json strings containing wave statistics and basic meteorological parameters.

Raw data from the Spotter buoys is stored in CSV files with the following filenames:
- BARO.csv (barometric pressure)
- FLT.csv (processed buoy displacement: surge, sway, and heave)
- GMN.csv (raw GPS parameters)
- HDR.csv (raw buoy position)
- HTU.csv (air temperature and humidity)
- LOC.csv (GPS latitude and longitude)
- PWR.csv (power data)
- SPC.csv (buoy-derived auto- and cross-spectra * note frequency vector is missing)
- SST.csv (sea surface temperature)
- *.log (various log files)