A comparison of surface current fields derived by beam forming and direction finding techniques as applied by the HF radar WERA

Author(s):  
K.-W. Gurgel ◽  
G. Antonischki ◽  
T. Schlick
2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1564-1582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Emery ◽  
Libe Washburn ◽  
Chad Whelan ◽  
Don Barrick ◽  
Jack Harlan

Abstract HF radars measure ocean surface currents near coastlines with a spatial and temporal resolution that remains unmatched by other approaches. Most HF radars employ direction-finding techniques, which obtain the most accurate ocean surface current data when using measured, rather than idealized, antenna patterns. Simplifying and automating the antenna pattern measurement (APM) process would improve the utility of HF radar data, since idealized patterns are widely used. A method is presented for obtaining antenna pattern measurements for direction-finding HF radars from ships of opportunity. Positions obtained from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) are used to identify signals backscattered from ships in ocean current radar data. These signals and ship position data are then combined to determine the HF radar APM. Data screening methods are developed and shown to produce APMs with low error when compared with APMs obtained with shipboard transponder-based approaches. The analysis indicates that APMs can be reproduced when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the backscattered signal is greater than 11 dB. Large angular sectors of the APM can be obtained on time scales of days, with as few as 50 ships.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 6622-6629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Zhao ◽  
Zezong Chen ◽  
Chao He ◽  
Fei Xie ◽  
Xi Chen

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1997-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Kirincich ◽  
Brian Emery ◽  
Libe Washburn ◽  
Pierre Flament

AbstractWhile land-based high-frequency (HF) radars are the only instruments capable of resolving both the temporal and spatial variability of surface currents in the coastal ocean, recent high-resolution views suggest that the coastal ocean is more complex than presently deployed radar systems are able to reveal. This work uses a hybrid system, having elements of both phased arrays and direction finding radars, to improve the azimuthal resolution of HF radars. Data from two radars deployed along the U.S. East Coast and configured as 8-antenna grid arrays were used to evaluate potential direction finding and signal, or emitter, detection methods. Direction finding methods such as maximum likelihood estimation generally performed better than the well-known multiple signal classification (MUSIC) method given identical emitter detection methods. However, accurately estimating the number of emitters present in HF radar observations is a challenge. As MUSIC’s direction-of-arrival (DOA) function permits simple empirical tests that dramatically aid the detection process, MUSIC was found to be the superior method in this study. The 8-antenna arrays were able to provide more accurate estimates of MUSIC’s noise subspace than typical 3-antenna systems, eliminating the need for a series of empirical parameters to control MUSIC’s performance. Code developed for this research has been made available in an online repository.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Gauci ◽  
Aldo Drago ◽  
John Abela

High frequency (HF) radar installations are becoming essential components of operational real-time marine monitoring systems. The underlying technology is being further enhanced to fully exploit the potential of mapping sea surface currents and wave fields over wide areas with high spatial and temporal resolution, even in adverse meteo-marine conditions. Data applications are opening to many different sectors, reaching out beyond research and monitoring, targeting downstream services in support to key national and regional stakeholders. In the CALYPSO project, the HF radar system composed of CODAR SeaSonde stations installed in the Malta Channel is specifically serving to assist in the response against marine oil spills and to support search and rescue at sea. One key drawback concerns the sporadic inconsistency in the spatial coverage of radar data which is dictated by the sea state as well as by interference from unknown sources that may be competing with transmissions in the same frequency band. This work investigates the use of Machine Learning techniques to fill in missing data in a high resolution grid. Past radar data and wind vectors obtained from satellites are used to predict missing information and provide a more consistent dataset.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Couvelard ◽  
Christophe Messager ◽  
Pierrick Penven ◽  
Phillipe Lattes

Abstract The oceanic circulation south of Africa is characterized by a complex dynamics with a strong variability due to the presence of the Agulhas current and numerous eddies. The area of interest of this paper, is also the location of several natural gas fields under seafloor which are targeted for drilling and exploitation.The complex and powerful ocean currents induce significant issues for ship operations at the surface as well as under the surface for deep sea operations. Therefore, the knowledge of the state of the currents and the ability to forecast them in a realistic manner could greatly enforce the safety of various marine operation. Following this objective an array of HF radar systems was deployed to allow a detailed knowledge of the Agulhas currents and its associated eddy activity. It is shown in this study that 4DVAR assimilation of HF radar allow to represent the surface circulation more realistically. Two kind of experiments have been performed, a one-month analysis and two days forecast. The one-month 4DVAR experiment have been compared to geostrophic currents issued from altimeters and highlight an important improvement of the geostrophic currents. Furthermore, despite the restricted size of the area covered with HF radar, we show that the solution is improved almost in the whole domain, mainly upstream and downstream of the HF radar's covered area. We also show that while benefits of the assimilation on the surface current intensity is significantly reduced in the first 6 hours of the forecast, the correction in direction persists after 48 hours.


Ocean Science ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 921-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Lorente ◽  
S. Piedracoba ◽  
J. Soto-Navarro ◽  
E. Alvarez-Fanjul

Abstract. The Ebro River delta is a relevant marine protected area in the western Mediterranean. In order to promote the conservation of its ecosystem and support operational decision making in this sensitive area, a three-site standard-range (13.5 MHz) CODAR SeaSonde high-frequency (HF) radar was deployed in December 2013. The main goal of this work is to explore basic features of the sea surface circulation in the Ebro deltaic region as derived from reliable HF radar surface current measurements. For this aim, a combined quality control methodology was applied: firstly, 1-year long (2014) real-time web monitoring of nonvelocity-based diagnostic parameters was conducted to infer both radar site status and HF radar system performance. The signal-to-noise ratio at the monopole exhibited a consistent monthly evolution, although some abrupt decreases (below 10 dB), occasionally detected in June for one of the radar sites, impacted negatively on the spatiotemporal coverage of total current vectors. It seemed to be sporadic episodes since radar site overall performance was found to be robust during 2014. Secondly, a validation of HF radar data with independent in situ observations from a moored current meter was attempted for May–October 2014. The accuracy assessment of radial and total vectors revealed a consistently high agreement. The directional accuracy of the HF radar was rated at better than 8°. The correlation coefficient and root mean square error (RMSE) values emerged in the ranges [0.58–0.83] and [4.02–18.31] cm s−1, respectively. The analysis of the monthly averaged current maps for 2014 showed that the HF radar properly represented basic oceanographic features previously reported, namely, the predominant southwestward flow, the coastal clockwise eddy confined south of the Ebro delta mouth, or the Ebro River impulsive-type freshwater discharge. The EOF analysis related the flow response to local wind forcing and confirmed that the surface current field evolved in space and time according to three significantly dominant modes of variability.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Stanev ◽  
F. Ziemer ◽  
J. Schulz-Stellenfleth ◽  
J. Seemann ◽  
J. Staneva ◽  
...  

AbstractAn observation network operating three Wellen Radars (WERAs) in the German Bight, which are part of the Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA), is presented in detail. Major consideration is given to expanding the patchy observations over the entire German Bight on a 1-km grid and producing state estimates at intratidal scales, and 6- and 12-h forecasts. This was achieved with the help of the proposed spatiotemporal optimal interpolation (STOI) method, which efficiently uses observations and simulations from a free model run within an analysis window of one or two tidal cycles. In this way the method maximizes the use of available observations and can be considered as a step toward the “best surface current estimate.” The performance of the analysis was investigated based on the achieved reduction of the misfit between model and observations. The complex dynamics of the study domain was illustrated based on the spatial and temporal changes of tidal ellipses for the M2 and M4 constituents from HF radar observations. It was demonstrated that blending observations and numerical modeling facilitates physical interpretation of processes such as the nonlinear distortion of the Kelvin wave in the coastal zone and in particular in front of the Elbe and Weser estuaries. Comparisons with in situ data acquired outside the area covered by the HF radar demonstrated that the analysis method is able to propagate the HF radar information to larger spatial scales.


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