As part of AOML SFP regional surveys of south Florida coastal waters, Lagrangian surface drifters have been deployed on a regular basis. These shoal draft, satellite-tracked drifters enable scientists to monitor regional flow patterns. Drifter deployment locations have varied depending on the configuration of the cruise track. However, deployments have been typically conducted at the mouth of the Shark River north of Cape Sable, at Riley's Hump in the Dry Tortugas, and in the Caloosahatchie River discharge near Charlotte Harbor. More recently, sites have also included Cape Romano and the Pulley Ridge. These regional surface drifter trajectories have been collected since the mid 1990's.

In addition to maintaining a long-term deployment time-series at these locations, AOML SFP drifter deployments have also been conducted in response to extreme events in the Gulf of Mexico, upstream from the south Florida marine ecosystem. For example, during the 2005 hurricane season, drifter deployments were organized to track suspected pollutant/contaminant pathways in the Gulf of Mexico via the Loop Current. Trajectories and data from these buoys can be found on the AOML SFP 2005 Hurricane Response Drifters website.

Due to a cessation of funding beginning in August 2012, the AOML SFP has suspended regional shipboard surveys and drifter deployments, and has recovered all project moorings. Though the SFP field component is in hiatus, scientific analyses continue on the project's historical datasets. Should funding for data collection activities be restored, SFP field operations will resume.

Due to a reduction in funding, the AOML SFP is not presently able to serve real-time drifter data. Should funding for these efforts be restored, real-time data distribution will resume on this page and at the following site.
South Florida Real-Time Drifter Trajectories