To FTP the metadata file (ASCII text):

Login as an 'anonymous'user to ftp.aoml.noaa.gov and proceed as follows:

At the system (e.g. unix) prompt enter commands shown after the ftp prompt (ftp>).

unix> ftp ftp.aoml.noaa.gov
ftp> binary
ftp> cd phod/pub/buoydata
ftp> prompt off
ftp> mget dirfl*.dat
ftp> quit

The file "dirfl_mmmyy.dat" contains information about each drifter in the database (deployment time and position, drogue off date, last time and position, death code, etc.). The "mmmyy" part of the file name contains the month and year of the file, indicating the most recent data in the update. For more information, click here.