A Comparison between Drifter and X-Band Wave Radar for Sea Surface Current Estimation

Abstract

This paper deals with exploitation of the wave radar system for sea surface current estimation in a coastal zone. In particular, we present the results of the processing of the radar data collected by an X-band marine radar installed in Capo Granitola site, which is located in the south-west part of Sicily, on 15 May 2015. The effectiveness of the data processing is analyzed by comparing the wave radar estimated sea surface current with that provided by the Lagrangian drifters along its movement trajectory. During the measurement campaign, three drifter releases are carried out and for each one the comparison is provided in terms of the mean error and standard deviation. In addition, we report the characteristic sea state parameters, in terms of peak wavelength (λ p ), peak direction propagation (θ p ), peak period (T p ) and significant wave height (H s ) of the dominant waves estimated by the wave radar system.

Proof of Feasibility of the Sea State Monitoring from Data Collected in Medium Pulse Mode by a X-Band Wave Radar System

“…The absence of spectral components at high wave numbers, when the radar is configured in medium pulse mode, involves a slight over/under-estimation of the sea surface current intensity, which is comparable with the sensitivity of the wave radar (see Figures 5 and 6a) [27].…”

“…As far as the short pulse mode is concerned, the calibration stage has already been carried out during previous campaigns [27,28]. In this paper, we use the calibration factor γ adopted in [27,28] to estimate the significant wave height H s by using both short and medium pulse modes; see Figure 10.…”

“…In this paper, we use the calibration factor γ adopted in [27,28] to estimate the significant wave height H s by using both short and medium pulse modes; see Figure 10.…”

Marine X‐Band Radar Currents and Bathymetry: An Argument for a Wave Number‐Dependent Retrieval Method

“…The MR‐drifter data pairs they analyzed were acquired near the DeSoto Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico under deep water conditions, that is, . Other studies investigating MR near‐surface currents in deep water or areas with known bathymetry include Bell et al (), Gangeskar (), Hessner et al (), Ludeno et al (), and Shen et al (). This study employs measurements from a later field campaign, which also involved a massive surface drifter deployment, but focused on the much shallower continental shelf waters of the Louisiana Bight, where equation must be considered in full.…”

Editorial for Special Issue “Radar Systems for the Societal Challenges”

“…Two other papers show the use of X-band radar systems for sea state monitoring. The first one presents a comparison between drifter and X-band wave radar for sea surface current estimation [2], while the other aims at improving the operational capabilities of X-band radar systems by performing advanced data processing for wind parameter estimation, starting from X-band radar collected in challenging rainy conditions [3]. The last paper of this batch regards the use of a new observation modality ensured by an X-Band airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system for sea surface observation [4].…”