A national high-frequency radar network has been created over the past 20 years or so that provides hourly 2-D ocean surface current velocity fields in near real time from a few kilometers offshore out to approximately 200 km. This preoperational network is made up of more than 100 radars from 30 different institutions. The Integrated Ocean Observing System efforts have supported the standards-based ingest and delivery of these velocity fields to a number of applications such as coastal search and rescue, oil spill response, water quality monitoring, and safe and efficient marine navigation. Thus, regardless of the operating institution or location of the radar systems, emergency response managers, and other users, can rely on a common source and means of obtaining and using the data. Details of the history, the physics, and the application of high-frequency radar are discussed with successes of the integrated network highlighted.

In order to address the need for surface trajectory forecasts following deployment of coastal HF radar systems during emergency-response situations (e.g., search and rescue, oil spill), a short-term predictive system (STPS) based on only a few hours data background is presented. First, open-modal analysis (OMA) coefficients are fitted to 1-D surface currents from all available radar stations at each time interval. OMA has the effect of applying a spatial low-pass filter to the data, fills gaps, and can extend coverage to areas where radial vectors are available from a single radar only. Then, a set of temporal modes is fitted to the time series of OMA coefficients, typically over a short 12-h trailing period. These modes include tidal and inertial harmonics, as well as constant and linear trends. This temporal model is the STPS basis for producing up to a 12-h current vector forecast from which a trajectory forecast can be derived. We show results of this method applied to data gathered during the September 2010 rapid-response demonstration in northern Norway. Forecasted coefficients, currents, and trajectories are compared with the same measured quantities, and statistics of skill are assessed employing 16 24-h data sets. Forecasted and measured kinetic variances of the OMA coefficients typically agreed to within 10-15%. In one case where errors were larger, strong wind changes are suspected and examined as the cause. Sudden wind variability is not included properly within the STPS attack we presently employ and will be a subject for future improvement.

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Abstract:We describe the operation of a bistatic HF radar network and outline analysis methods for the derivation of the elliptical velocity components from the radar echo spectra. Bistatic operation is illustrated by application to a bistatic pair: Both remote systems receive backscattered echo, with one remote system in addition receiving bistatic echoes transmitted by the other. The pair produces elliptical velocity components in addition to two sets of radials. Results are compared with drifter measurements and checks performed on internal consistency in the radar results. We show that differences in drifter/radar current velocities are consistent with calculated radar data uncertainties. Elliptical and radial velocity components are demonstrated to be consistent within the data uncertainties. Inclusion of bistatic operation in radar networks can be expected to increase accuracy in derived current velocities and extend the coverage area.

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.