NOAA Marine Environmental Buoy Database (MEBD) Web Application (NCEI Accession 0304679)

The NOAA Marine Environmental Buoy Database (MEBD) holds wind, wave, and other marine data collected by the NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). The data were collected from NDBC moored buoys and from C-MAN (Coastal-Marine Automated Network) stations located on piers, offshore towers, lighthouses, and beaches. Parameters reported by both buoys and C-MAN stations included air temperature and pressure, wind speed and direction, wind gust, and sea surface temperature. The buoys (and a few C-MAN stations located on offshore towers) also reported wave data, usually including wave height, wave period, and wave spectra. Since the late 1980s some buoys have reported directional wave spectra. NCEI received the data from NDBC on a monthly basis, generally 2-3 weeks after the last observation from the given month. The interactive map and related files provided users with detailed information about the positions, period of record and other characteristics of the data in this NCEI database.

The earliest data in the buoy data archives is from February 1970 and the latest is from December 2024. The data previously available through the MEBD portal is accessible from the archives via the HTTPS and THREDDS data access points.
The HTML pages generated for each buoy contain links to netCDF files using the naming convention below:
D<n>=netCDF data (<n>= Deployment number, e.g., D1, D2, etc.)
D<n>_adcp=ADCP netCDF data (e.g., D1_adcp)
nd=no data

Two or more links may be available for the same year/month. For buoys serviced during a month, the deployment number in the file name increments by one and there can be two or more D<n> links (e.g., D1, D2, etc.) for that buoy. For buoys with ADCP data, there is an additional ADCP link for separate ADCP data (e.g., D1_adcp).

NCEI decommissioned the MEBD portal in May 2025 with no plans for further updates. Upon termination, the underlying data will still be available in this accession. Comments and questions may be sent to: ncei.info@noaa.gov</n></n></n></n>