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Oh buoy! Runaway research buoy gets data on Great Lakes winter waves
Winter is a quiet time for Great Lakes research, at least out on the water. Research vessels remain secured to their docks; most monitoring equipment is ashore.
But last winter, a basketball-sized buoy off Muskegon, Michigan, broke free from its mooring. Set up to track temperature and wave height, it remained out on the lake and collected data scientists have chased for years: real-time measurements of what happens in the open water far from shore.
It’s some of the first data that exists on how ice and waves collide during the most treacherous season on the Great Lakes.
“It just aligned perfectly with the kind of work we were trying to do,” said Steve Ruberg, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab.
The spotter buoy drifted about 33 miles, coming close to the center of Lake Michigan. Strong winds pushed it back into an icy area, where it became wedged in thick ice, providing data on how much ice actually dampens strong waves.
The timing was especially serendipitous because it was a normal ice year. That’s not a given as climate change is driving an overall decline in ice cover mixed with swings from extreme high to low ice years.
The runaway buoy broke loose in mid-January, drifting about 33 miles and nearing the center of Lake Michigan. Strong winds eventually pushed it back into an icy area south of Grand Haven, where it became wedged in thick ice, providing data on how much ice actually dampens strong waves.
Direct observations are typically not possible in winter
For context, winter brings the strongest winds and waves to the Great Lakes. Scientists rely on models to try to understand conditions, but direct observations are scarce. It’s too dangerous on the water; no research vessels can safely operate in winter storms. Search and rescue vehicles are pulled for the season.
Spotter buoys, like the one that got loose, can withstand the conditions, but they don’t roam freely. There are larger, yellow buoys scattered throughout all five lakes that collect a lot more information. However, they are not as durable and must be brought in before winter.
A spotter buoy washed ashore north of Ludington, Michigan. The basketball-sized buoys track surface temperature and wave height in the Great Lakes. Last winter, one spotter buoy off Muskegon broke free from its mooring and collected some of the first data scientists have on how ice tamps down winter waves.
That leaves gaping unknowns: How do waves behave in the middle of the lakes during winter? What happens beneath the ice during winter storms?
It’s information that could provide better forecasts for commercial freighters operating during those months, if it was available.
“Our passion here is to try to make that happen,” Ruberg said.
Scientists can’t glean information about how ice affects waves from the ocean. Lake ice is stronger than ocean ice because saltwater freezes at colder temperatures.
“There is almost no data, so anything was going to be exciting,” said Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, a scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research who studies hazardous weather and ice on the Great Lakes.
Enter last year’s rogue buoy.
The buoy was deployed off Muskegon, Michigan, by NOAA and the Cooperative Institute in late summer 2023, and stayed there until it broke loose.
When it drifted back from the middle of the lake in early February it floated into a zone of broken, consolidated ice before eventually becoming trapped in solid ice over open water – a perfect gradient illustrating the transition from fractured ice to a solid ice sheet.
On Feb. 7 and 8, a severe storm hit, drumming up waves more than eight feet high beneath the solid ice.
What it revealed, Fujisaki-Manome said, was that the models scientists used were dampening waves more than they should. The actual waves under ice cover are much higher than the models predicted.
Fujisaki-Manome compared how the models performed over open water with their performance in Saginaw Bay, where ice is more stable. There, the models are doing a good job. But out in the middle of Lake Michigan the models need to be improved.
The rogue buoy eventually washed up on shore north of South Haven on March 25, and a local resident dragged it up on the beach two days later. Ruberg and his team retrieved it in early April.
Winter is a risky time to be on the water, but advancements in technology – and some creativity – are making it more plausible to collect information on the Great Lakes.
Researchers, like Hayden Henderson, a scientist at Michigan Technological University, have gone so far as to deploy buoys using a helicopter. Two years ago marked the first time his team placed a larger buoy with more capabilities farther offshore. Last year, they expanded the effort, dropping buoys from helicopters into Lake Superior, northern Lake Huron and northern Lake Michigan.
The mooring and buoy that was deployed off Muskegon, Michigan, which broke loose last winter. The spotter buoy, which is roughly the size of a basketball, collected some of the first data that exists on how ice and waves collide in the most treacherous season on the Great Lakes.
“But technology is changing, and we’re making advancements, and I think we’re going to be able to do a better job,” Ruberg said. “But it’s always a challenging time.”
Ruberg said scientists are hoping underwater robots may eventually help close the winter data gap as well.
And it’s an important gap to fill, Henderson said, as winter is the fastest changing season in the Great Lakes.
Better observations lead to more reliable predictions, which is increasingly important as the Great Lakes experience stronger storms, changing water levels and accelerating coastal erosion. Accurately predicting the winter sea state, Henderson said, is essential to understand how coastlines are changing and how to plan for future development.
“We can’t measure yesterday, but we can start today,” Henderson said.
Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Coast Guard begins Ice Breaking operations
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes commenced
Operation Taconite at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 10, to prevent newly formed ice from hindering
commercial traffic.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SPAR (WLB 206) is assigned to manage the ice breaking needs of western Lake Superior, specifically the twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. As ice coverage expands, U.S. Coast Guard officials will assign additional icebreakers.
Operation Taconite is the Coast Guard’s largest domestic icebreaking operation. The operation
encompasses Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, the St. Marys River, the Straits of Mackinac and the Georgian Bay.
Various commercial waterways may close after due consideration is given to the protection of the marine environment, the need for cross-channel traffic such as ferries and the safety of the island residents, who during their daily business use naturally formed ice bridges for transportation to and from the mainland.
The implementation of Operation Taconite places additional movement criteria on commercial
vessels transiting the area of operation. These measures may include restricting tanker transits to
daylight in the presence of ice, reducing speeds by 2 miles per hour in specified locations to reduce incidental ice breaking, and requiring additional voice and position reporting points throughout the operation’s area of responsibility.
The Coast Guard recommends all recreational ice users plan their activities carefully, use caution on the ice and stay clear from shipping channels.
[U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes]
