The transfer of the oceanographic platform POSAR to the Copas Coastal Center of the University of Concepción marks a new chapter in national marine monitoring.

La Boya POSAR, one of the most important oceanographic platforms in the country, will be officially transferred to Coastal COPAS Center of the University of Concepción. With this milestone, the institution strengthens its leadership in oceanographic and climatic monitoring, providing real-time data that is key to understanding phenomena associated with climate change and strengthening marine research in Chile.

La Boya POSAR (Ocean-Atmosphere Coupled System Observation Platform), was developed through the FONDEQUIP 140134 project and was funded for the first time in 2016 by the Climate and Resilience Science Center (CR2) of the University of Chile.

Consolidation of oceanographic and climatic monitoring

After a period of maintenance on land and a subsequent successful mooring on July 13, 2025, the POSAR buoy is currently operational at Station 18, so named because it is located 18 nautical miles off the coast of Dichato, in the Biobío region. This is an emblematic point for marine observations by the UdeC, where oceanographic measurements have been carried out for more than two decades.

From there, the platform records in meteorological and oceanographic variables such as air and sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, solar radiation and wind speed, among others, whose data are open and accessible in real time to the entire national and international scientific community.

This transfer marks a new chapter in POSAR's life and consolidates the collaborative work between two centres of excellence in the sciences of the sea and the atmosphere, strengthening Chile's ability to understand the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere and, in particular, phenomena such as tides, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms and extreme events possibly associated with climate change.

The transfer ceremony will take place on Tuesday 26 August at 12:00 hours in the Alamiro Robledo Auditorium of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Concepción.

The activity will involve authorities from the University of Concepción, COPAS Coastal and CR2.