The project of “Development of ocean current mapping and seawater surface temperature study through the use of current mapper buoys and satellite tracking” aims to conduct scientific study of the ocean covering temperature and currents at seawater surface through the use of current mapper buoys equipped with a temperature sensor with location tracking by satellite technology. The buoys were developed by Thai Inventors with a simple and straightforward design in order to further domestic commercial production. They are also capable of working continuously for up to 30 days. This project has been initiated under the collaboration between PTTEP, the Hydro-Informatics Institute (HII), and Kasetsart University.  

PTTEP appreciates the opportunities to support this project, thus the PTTEP’s Arthit offshore petroleum field located in the Gulf of Thailand was used to deploy the current mapper buoys on a monthly basis during Q2-2022 to Q2-2023. The project marks the first in Thailand to deploy current mapper buoys from an offshore petroleum platform in order to understand the ocean surface currents and temperature starting from offshore of the Gulf of Thailand, covering all seasons across the year. The surface currents map and temperature were displayed on the Hydro-Informatics Institute (HII) platform and automatically transferred to display on PTTEP Ocean Data Platform as well. Results of the study shall be used as the key inputs for various ocean conservation and emergency plans and early warning system as well as the enhancement of ocean mathematical models such as marine debris dispersion prediction, climate change impact monitoring, potential impact to ecosystem and its human use prediction, etc. to integrate better of the oceanographic data in the Gulf of Thailand.

For more information please visit:  Marine observation and modeling database system for oceanography research in Thailand (hii.or.th)