the south atlantic bight synoptic offshore observational network (sabsoon) is an offshore monitoring project begun in 1998, which collects data on a number of parameters about the ocean off the coast of the southeastern u.s., such as temperature, salinity, density, light levels, chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter, and velocity of currents. such information is useful for tracking the movements of water masses offshore. the project also feeds realtime information on atmospheric conditions (temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation, dew point, etc.) to the u.s. national weather service, and provides water conditions (wind, wave height, etc.) for fishermen and recreational boaters.