From Australian Oceans Data Network
JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

IMOS - Ocean Radar - Phased array HF ocean radar system (WERA)

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

Coastal ocean surface radar is a land-based technique which uses scattering from the rough sea surface to obtain echoes which are Doppler shifted by the dynamics of the sea. It has been shown (Crombie, 1955) that the scatter is predominantly a Bragg interaction between the radio wave and the sea surface gravity wave that is propagating in the same direction and with half the wavelength of the radio wave. This Bragg interaction gives two strong first-order lines in the echo spectrum; one from the resonant gravity wave moving radially away from the station, and one from the resonant gravity wave moving towards the station. Phased array systems determine the azimuthal angle between the station and a point on the sea surface by forming a narrow beam; the range to the point is set by the propagation delay for the electromagnetic wave. For the phased array systems, the two radar stations each operate for alternating periods of 5 minutes on and 5 minutes off, and out of phase, so that they can use the same frequency without interfering with each other. During each 5 minute of operation the radar measures the component of the surface current at each point projected onto the radial from the station to the point.
At the end of 10 minutes, the radial components of surface currents can be combined from the two stations to find the vector at each position on the grid. While surface currents are generally the data of most interest, the phased array systems can also produce significant wave heights and wind directions at each grid point and a calculation of the full directional wave spectrum at ranges of up to about half the maximum range (which is 150 km). WERA HF ocean radar systems are used in the Capricorn Bunker Group (Tannum Sands and Lady Elliot Island), Queensland, at South Australian Gulf (Cape Spencer and Cape Wiles), South Australia, for Rottnest Shelf (Fremantle and Guilderton), Western Australia, and at Coffs Harbour (Red Rock and North Nambucca), New South Wales.

Files and APIs

Tags

Additional Info

Field Value
Title IMOS - Ocean Radar - Phased array HF ocean radar system (WERA)
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/b4fc3463-0c03-4d62-afac-976a9e6d768f
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
info@aodn.org.au
Reference Period 25/03/2025
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "IMOS - Ocean Radar - Phased array HF ocean radar system (WERA)". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/imos-ocean-radar-phased-array-hf-ocean-radar-system-wera