A Nested Multi-static HF Radar Testbed for the New York Bight and Beyond

Abstract

Surface currents are envisioned to be an integral component of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and High Frequency (HF) radar technologies provide the means to measure these data across multiple scales. The Rutgers University Coastal Ocean Observation Lab (COOL) has continuously operated a nested network of HF radars since 1998 as part of a sustained coastal observatory centered on the New York Bight. Components of this network include 25 MHz, 13MHz, and 5 MHz Tx /Rx shore stations and offshore buoy mounted Tx stations. These components are linked through GPS synchronization technology to provide fully nested multi-static surface current coverage. Data from these systems are supporting a growing number testbed activities and large science campaigns. Testbed activities focus on extending the present surface current mapping coverage closer to the beach with the development of new nearshore wave and current applications. Additional software and hardware modifications are beginning to extend the environmental monitoring to full maritime domain awareness by transitioning the sites to a dual-use mode that include hard target detection and tracking.

Towards an integrated observation and modeling system in the New York Bight using variational methods. Part I: 4DVAR data assimilation

“…The azimuth resolution of the raw data at all the sites is 5 degrees, and radial data from the sites was combined into total vectors using the algorithm described by Kohut et al (2001) and Kohut et al (2006b) and mapped to a 6-km resolution grid. An example of the HF-radar-measured surface current is given in Figure 6a.…”