UCAR Supports NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program: Ocean Observations Matter

“The ocean is like the beating heart of our planet. Just as a fitness tracker checks your pulse, NOAA supports a global ocean observing system that checks the pulse of the ocean over 1 million times a day,” says Heather Heenehan, UCAR | CPAESS Education and Outreach Specialist with the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) and the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (GOMO).

The data gleaned from this ocean observing system – a network of buoys, floats, moorings and more – are used to inform weather forecasts that protect lives and property and support a healthy ocean ecosystem and economy.

Educators and students can engage with NOAA ocean science and conduct their own ocean observing through the Adopt a Drifter (ADP) Program.  GOMO and the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) established the ADP in December 2004 as outreach for the Global Drifter Program specifically for K-16 educators and their students. Educators participate by adopting one of the Global Drifter Program drifters. 

These drifters are a type of buoy outfitted with sensors that float at the surface of the ocean and are not anchored to the ocean floor. Instead, they drift with the currents, hence the name drifter or drifting buoy.  All drifters are equipped to measure sea surface temperature and location that is tracked by satellite as they traverse the global ocean. Additional sensors can collect data on sea level pressure, wind speed and direction or salinity. 

When a drifter is adopted, the educator receives their own personalized tracking page along with all the resources, lessons, and activities that have been developed by the program. 

The ADP has had a longstanding collaboration with the  NOAA Teacher at Sea Program where teachers have the opportunity to sail on a NOAA ship and participate in the actual launch of a drifter. While most adopters don’t have the opportunity to toss their drifter into the ocean,  it is nevertheless exciting for students to participate in ocean science by tracking their drifter, and plotting ocean temperatures and other data along its sea journey. 

Their participation has practical applications. Information about warm and cold ocean currents, for example, is used by scientists to produce more accurate weather forecasts, track oil spills, and monitor plants and other species. 

With an eye towards creating multiple avenues for formal and informal educators to learn about the ADP, Heenehan recently conducted a Webinar on the ADP and shared lesson plans with attendees.

In July 2026, she will present at the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) Annual conference as part of a day-long teacher workshop sponsored by NOAA Ocean Exploration. Heenehan will be among many presenters demonstrating how engaging with the ADP can help students develop data literacy and problem-solving skills, understand the importance of a healthy ocean ecosystem, and perhaps be inspired to pursue careers in science, research, or education.

Heenehan pulled together a wealth of information and resources about the evolution of the ADP and Teacher at Sea Program in a recent blog post. This year, the second-ever ADP intern Virginia St. Clair is joining the ADP to create new tools like a drifter map to increase understanding and engagement among educators and students. She is joining as a NOAA Lapenta Intern.

“Involving educators and students in NOAA science is central to the agency’s mission. We need people to understand what we do, how we do it, and why it matters,” said Heenehan.