THE MARINE INSTITUTE CELEBRATES WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY

The Marine Institute celebrates World Meteorological Day. The Marine Institute celebrates World Meteorological Day with a milestone, marking 25 years of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network (IMDBON) and the crucial role it plays in providing essential meteorological information from across Ireland’s marine area.

The IMDBON, which is managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann, is a network of five buoys around Ireland. They contribute real-time ocean and weather data to Met Éireann’s forecasting systems which is also shared globally with other meteorological agencies, as well as providing data for purposes outside of weather forecasting, like shipping bulletins.

In recent years, the data delivered by the buoys, such as wave weights, air pressures, wind speed and sea surface temperatures, has had an increasingly vital role to play. This is particularly relevant when it comes to storms arriving into Irish waters and making their way inland, affecting people’s safety and daily lives, as well as property and the country’s economic activity.

One of such events was 2025’s record-breaking Storm Éowyn, which saw fierce hurricane-force winds and massive waves causing widespread disruption. The data from the IMDBON buoys revealed the storm’s explosive intensification over the warm Atlantic waters and provided unbroken measurements of ocean and atmospheric data amid extreme weather conditions. This data enabled Met Éireann to issue precise gale and swell warnings, along with other weather forecasting information.

Alongside the IMDBON, the Marine Institute manages a wide range of marine research infrastructures that provide data for oceanographic monitoring, climate research and international climate modelling programmes. Floats, gliders, the Irish Tide Gauge Network, Deep Sea moorings, the Irish Wave Buoy Network, ocean climate surveys and other infrastructures are all doing vital work in advancing our knowledge about ocean forecasting and climate change.

Marine heatwave monitoring is increasingly important and the Marine Institute has extended its research on the occurrence of marine heatwaves in Irish waters. For example, an analysis of the occurrence of marine heatwaves (MHWs) at the location of the M5 IMDBON buoy in the Celtic Sea reveals an increasing number of MHWs in the period 1982-2025.

Marine heatwaves occur when the sea temperature is within the top 10% of long-term measured temperature values, typically a 30-year mean, for a particular location lasting five days or more.

Marine heatwaves can have profound impacts on marine life, negatively impacting the reproduction and growth of key marine species, with some species at risk of death when their temperature tolerance limits are exceeded. The Marine Institute has developed a suite of tools to visualise and understand the magnitude and extent of marine heatwaves.

Dr Rick Officer, CEO of the Marine Institute, said:

“We are excited to celebrate World Meteorological Day and to also mark 25 years since the IMDBON first started operating. Covering Ireland’s coastline and extending into the Atlantic ocean, the network delivers highly impactful data that translates into actionable forecasting for people’s daily lives, thanks to the work of our collaborator Met Éireann.

The IMDBON achieves all this through its design for endurance – solar-powered sensors transmit data via satellite every hour, even in 20 metre plus waves. We are proud that the IMDBON is one of the most advanced and robust marine buoy platforms available in the world today and is part of the Marine Institute’s suite of marine research infrastructures.”

The Met Éireann Weather Station located at the Institute’s Newport Research Facility also feeds into real-time weather forecasting and has been successfully operating for 67 years.

The IMDBON buoys are funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and are managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann.

Real-time observational data from the buoys are available at:
https://www.marine.ie/site-area/data-services/real-time-observations/ir…

Image: Marine Institute

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