# White paper: How to lower the cost and complexity of collecting subsurface ocean data at scale

Marine professionals across industry, government, and the research community are using modular, rapidly deployable wave buoy platforms to simplify subsurface ocean data collection and sensor integration.

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**Date:** December 6, 2024

Collecting subsurface ocean data has historically been complex and costly. Conventional underwater sensors — like [Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs)](/content/posts/spotter-adcp-currents-field-comparison/index.html) and data loggers — are often expensive, single-purpose, or difficult to deploy and maintain.

At Sofar, we built the [Spotter Platform](/content/it/spotter-old/index.html) to equip marine professionals with an affordable, no-shortcut solution for collecting and transmitting surface and subsurface ocean data in real time.

- At the [surface](/content/products/spotter#s-surface/index.html), a durable Spotter wave buoy measures wave spectra, wind, sea surface temperature, and atmospheric pressure.
- Beneath the surface, Spotter's Smart Mooring integrates with multiple [underwater](/content/products/spotter#s-subsurface/index.html) sensors, including temperature and pressure sensors, current meters, dissolved oxygen (DO) sensors, and hydrophones.

Customers across government, research, aquaculture, offshore energy, and other industries rapidly deploy Spotter to collect real-time underwater data at scale and ensure smarter, safer, and more efficient operations.

In this white paper, we explore how Spotter lowers the cost and complexity of collecting three types of subsurface ocean data:

- Physical Parameters
- Water Quality
- Sound and Visual