WILMETTE, Ill. (AP) — A new instrument-filled buoy in Lake Michigan is relaying information that should enhance researchers’ understanding of nearshore waters and alert the public to hazardous conditions in real time.

The environmental-sensing buoy is located about four miles off the shore of Wilmette, Illinois, some 20 miles north of Chicago. The device provides data on wind speed, air and water temperature, wave height and direction and other environmental characteristics from May to October each year.

The buoy was launched last month as part of a collaborative effort between Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, LimnoTech and Purdue University.

The project was made possible with grant money awarded to Tomas Hook, an associate professor in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Hook is Sea Grant’s associate director of research.