Development of MEMS IMU based and solar powered wave buoy FZ

Driven by technical advances in low-cost electronics, massive deployment of ocean sensing devices has become increasingly feasible. We have developed an inexpensive MEMS IMU based and solar-powered small wave buoy FZ that makes the intensive deployments possible. After the hardware and software of the developed wave buoy is described, the results of the test deployments of the four FZ wave buoys to the Okhotsk Sea with the seasonal sea ice coverage in February 2022. For reference, the commercial wave buoy Spotter was also deployed with one of the FZ wave buoys. The comparison shows in general a good agreement in the estimation of the power spectral of surface waves, and therefore a good agreement in the significant wave height and mean wave period. It is also shown that deployments of the multiple wave buoys are effective method to study the wave ice interaction. Finally, based on the results of the experiments, the achievements and issues of the developed wave buoy are discussed.