HF radar technology offers a unique insight to coastal ocean variability by providing high resolution data at the interface between ocean and atmosphere. HFR data are a powerful tool for understanding the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and the different coastal circulation processes like ocean waves, mixing and heat fluxes, wind induced currents and inertial oscillations. Moreover, since HFR data provide measurements of currents with a relatively wide spatial coverage and high spatio-temporal resolution in near real time, they have become invaluable tools in the field of operational oceanography. HFR systems are now an integrating technology of many coastal observatories with proved potential for monitoring and even providing short-term prediction of coastal currents and inputs for the validation and calibration of numerical ocean forecasting models, especially near the coast.
The shore-based HFSWR provides reliable data of ocean surface currents and significant wave height and direction over long distances (100-300 km) with outstanding spatial and temporal resolution for SAR and environmental protection images. This robust shore-based system delivers reliable data even under extreme weather and very dynamic ocean current conditions. The surface current image depicted in figure 1 was taken by HFSWR 4 which models the current velocity and sea surface salinity.
The transmitter antenna is a quasi-LPMA. The transmitter antenna needs to be isolated from the receiver antenna. This is achieved by a physical separation of at least 100 metres. The receiver array is made up of 12 (or 16) aerials in a line. The receiver array using beam-former (linear) construction has a 120° field of view around the cross-shore axis.
In general, the control unit coordinates the transmitter, receiver and signal processing units. The main tasks of this unit:
Here are some of the main specifications of this unit:
The output of the control unit after signal processing will be delivered to the monitor and the following items will be displayed: