Applications of Galileo HAS to Maritime Buoys

Buoys have long been used in maritime scenarios, mainly to fix a landmark or to help mooring. Thanks to technological advances, buoys can be nowadays instrumented and become capable to compute and provide their absolute position. Such an option greatly enlarges their roles and applications. GNSS can help in this regard, especially with the recent addition of a very accurate positioning by the European GNSS Galileo. In this paper, the application to buoys of the Galileo HAS (High Accuracy Service) is discussed. Specifically, advantages in the knowledge of the positioning of a single buoy and of a network of buoys are considered for navigation or monitoring of sea conditions. The possible applications to properly commanded and propelled buoys and to a swarm of buoys are also recalled.