spar buoy

{{Short description|Buoy designed for minimal interference from waves}}

File:Lateral view of spar-buoy.png

A spar buoy is a tall, thin buoy that floats upright in the water and is characterized by a small water plane area and a large mass. Because they tend to be stable ocean platforms, spar buoys are popular for making oceanographic measurements. Adjustment of the water plane area and the mass allows spar buoys to be tuned so they tend to not respond to wave forcing.{{cite conference |title=Development of a six degree of freedom buoy design and analysis program with validating data |author1=Venezia, W.A. |author2=Clark, A.M. |author3=Schmitt, K.F. |date=6 August 2002 |orig-year=18–21 October 1993 |conference=OCEANS '93. Engineering in Harmony with Ocean |volume=1 |location=Victoria, BC, Canada |pages=390–394 |isbn=0-7803-1385-2 |doi=10.1109/OCEANS.1993.325978 |id=INSPEC Accession Number: 4764203}} This characteristic differentiates them from large water plane area buoys{{cite conference |title=Development of a 10-m Diesel Powered Life Support and Communications Buoy for the Aquarius 2000 Habitat |author1=A.M. Clark |author2=W. A. Venezia |conference=Ocean Community Conference '98 |year=1998|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-933957-23-8}} such as discus buoys that tend to be wave followers. Spar buoys are often used as stable platforms for wave measurement devices{{cite conference |author1=Drennan, W.M. |author2=H.C. Graber |author3=M.A. Donelan |author4=E.A. Terray |title=Directional wave measurements from the ASIS (Air-Sea Interaction Spar) buoy|conference=OCEANS '98 Conference|location=Nice, France|pages=414–418|date=6 August 2002 |orig-year=28 September-1 October 1998 |doi=10.1109/OCEANS.1998.725779|isbn=0-7803-5045-6|id=INSPEC Accession Number: 6201719|volume=1}} and air–sea interaction measurements.{{Cite journal|first1=Hans C. |last1=Graber |first2=Eugene A. |last2=Terray |first3=Mark A. |last3=Donelan |first4=William M. |last4=Drennan |first5=John C. |last5=Van Leer |first6=Donald B. |last6=Peters |title=ASIS - A new Air-Sea Interaction Spar buoy: Design and performance at sea|journal=Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=708–720 |issn=0739-0572 |publisher=American Meteorological Society| location=Boston, MA |date=1 January 2000|doi=10.1175/1520-0426(2000)017<0708:AANASI>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2000JAtOT..17..708G |s2cid=124826484 |doi-access=free }} Spar buoys range in length from around one metre{{cite conference |title=An Easily Deployed, Low Cost And Light-weight Spar Buoy For Making High Frequency Wave Height Measurements |author=Nelson, C.V. |conference=OCEANS '89 |date=6 August 2002 |orig-year=18–21 September 1989 |pages=1421–1423 |doi=10.1109/OCEANS.1989.587092 |volume=5}} to the {{convert|108|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=on}} RP FLIP. To avoid the difficulties inherent with shipboard launch and recovery, helicopter deployment of large spar buoys has been studied.{{cite conference |title=Design, construction, and load testing of a large scale helicopter deployed spar buoy |author1=Pellegrini, R.R. |author2=Venezia, W.A. |conference=OCEANS '93. Engineering in Harmony with Ocean |orig-year=18–21 October 1993 |volume=2 |pages=140–145 |location=Victoria, BC , Canada |isbn=0-7803-1385-2 |id=INSPEC Accession Number: 4800652 |doi=10.1109/OCEANS.1993.326081 |date=6 August 2002}}