The University of Washington played a key role in launching a network of 3,000 buoys that are floating through oceans all over the world, recording and reporting data for weather forecasters.

UW oceanographer Steve Riser helped design the Argo floats and about 850 were built at the university in Seattle. Riser says about 700 floats have to be replaced each year to keep the network operating. That costs about $14 million.

More than 20 nations have contributed so far to the project, with the United States picking up about half the cost since 1999.

Each float is about 5 feet long and weighs about 60 pounds. They drift more than a mile deep and float to the surface to transmit information such as temperature. The data is sent to forecasting centers to help scientist watching the weather and climate change.

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On the Net:

http://www.argo.ucsd.edu

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com