Sea Technology

MAR 2015

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

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www.sea-technology.com March 2015 / st 35 O ver the past couple of decades high-frequency (HF) ra- dar has become an increasingly popular way to mea- sure ocean surface currents at near real time. There are pres- ently more than 130 systems operating along U.S. coasts run by a variety of academic institutions, government and private organizations. Many of these systems receive fund- ing and support from the NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), through coordination with one of the 11 IOOS regional associations. IOOS also supported the creation of the HF Radar National Network, a central- ized access point for all near-real-time HF radar data, as well as a signifcant amount of historic HF radar observations. Despite impressive spatial cov- erage of HF radar observations and improved ease of access through the National Network, the use of HF radar data out- side of the scientifc commu- nity has remained limited. To reach new users, the NOAA Center for Operational Ocean- ographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) has released a new HF radar Web product, which provides near-real-time surface current observations and tidal current predictions in select estuarine and coastal locations. This product expands the HF radar user base with benefts to marine navigation, search and rescue, oil spill response and recreational users, among others. Product Description The new Web product is presently available in San Fran- cisco Bay and Chesapeake Bay and provides two primary sources of information to users: near-real-time HF radar surface current observations and tidal current predictions. The hourly averaged surface current observations are pro- vided via an interactive map and plotting interface for the most recent 48 hours at regularly spaced grid points in each NOAA High-Frequency Radar Surface Currents Web Product New NOAA Product Aims to Expand the HF Radar User Base By Gregory Dusek • Paul Fanelli • Christopher Paternostro The HF Radar Surface Currents map interface at San Francisco Bay. The vectors show the sur- face current speed and direction at each grid point.

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