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.