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The National Data Buoy Center maintains a current database of meteorological and hydrological data, historical data, and written information generated by the National Weather Service or received from other official sources. This site makes available in real time a selection of current official weather observations, forecasts and warnings from the Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations and moored buoys. C-MAN stations have been installed on lighthouses, at capes and beaches, on near shore islands, and on offshore platforms. C-MAN station data typically include barometric pressure, wind direction, speed and gust, and air temperature; however, some C-MAN stations are designed to also measure sea water temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation, and visibility. The National Data Buoy Center's moored buoys measure and transmit barometric pressure; wind direction, speed, and gust; air and sea temperature; and wave energy spectra from which significant wave height, dominant wave period, and average wave period are derived. Even the direction of wave propagation is measured on many moored buoys. The site also includes lessons about weather and oceanographic phenomena such as sea breezes, the causes of ocean surface waves, tides, and hurricanes. Explanations include data from buoys or C-MAN stations and graphics.

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