Resources

High Frequency Radar (HFR) sea surface currents in the area of the French Riviera, North Western Mediterranean Sea (since 2012)

Data set information

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General  
Data holding centreMediterranean Institute of Oceanography (Marseille)
CountryFrance  France
ProjectMediterranean Ocean Observing System on Environment (MOOSE)(MOOSE); JERICO-NEXT : Towards a joint European research infrastructure network for coastal observatories(JERICO-NEXT); IMpatto Portuale su Aree Marine protette: azioni Cooperative Transfrontaliere(IMPACT); SIstema transfrontaliero per la sicurezza in mare COntro i rischi della navigazione e per la salvaguardia dell'ambiente MARino(SICOMAR plus)
Time periodHistorical data from 2012. Pre-operational from 2021 and ongoing
OngoingYes
Geographical area

French Riviera

Observations 
Parameters

Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents)

Instruments

Surface current radars

Description 
Summary

In the framework of the SNO/SOERE MOOSE (Mediterranean Ocean Observing System on Environment - https://www.ir-ilico.fr/Les-reseaux-elementaires/Fiches-d-identite-des-reseaux-elementaires/MOOSE) program, the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography is operating coastal High Frequency Surface Wave Radars (HF radar) on the North Western Mediterranean coast. This activity is also supported by the following European Research Infrastructure JERICO-NEXT (https://www.jerico-ri.eu), and Interreg MED programs as Impact and Sicomar +. HF radars provide high resolution (3 to 5 km), synoptic views of surface currents from the shore up to 80 km offshore at hourly time scales. The measurement principle is based on the Doppler effect created by an additional current on the intrinsic speed of the waves selected by radar-sea interactions, called Bragg waves, having a wavelength of half that of the radar electro-magnetic waves and propagating in the axis of observation (radial currents). A single radar scans the sea in azimuth and determines the radial components of the current at each adjacent cell along each azimuth. Two separate radars for the same area from different angles then collect the information necessary for mapping vector current from the combination of the two sets of radial components. The HF radar data set is made of monthly averaged surface currents, geo-referenced on Cartesian longitude/latitude coordinates. The radial velocity maps are provided applying a Direction Finding technique (instead of traditional Beam Forming) not only to the full array of antenna but also to subarrays made of a smaller number of sequential antennas, a method which we refer to as "antenna grouping". The area of Toulon is covered by WERA HF radar since 2012 with two receiver sites at Peyras-Cap Sicié, and Cap Bénat Peyras and two transmitters one collocated with the receiver at Peyras-Cap Sicié and the second one at Porquerolles island. At least two radials are computed to reconstruct the vector field. The area of Nice is covered by two CODAR SeaSonde: one in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat (set up in 2014), and the last one in Menton (set up in 2021).

OriginatorsPythéas Institute, OSU
References

Charles-Antoine Guérin (2021) High-Frequency radar measurements with CODARs in the region of NIce: improved calibration and performances, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics; Dylan Dumas (2020) Multistatic estimation of high-frequency radar surface currents in the region of Toulon, Ocean Dynamics

Data web sitehttps://dataset.osupytheas.fr
Availability 
OrganisationMediterranean Institute of Oceanography (Marseille)
AvailabilitySeaDataNet licence
ContactCéline Quentin (Dr)
Address

Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (Marseille)
163 Avenue de Luminy Bâtiment Méditerranée
Marseille Cedex 9

13288
France

Telephone+33(0)4 94 14 27 78
Emailceline.quentin@mio.osupytheas.fr
Administration 
Collating centreIfremer, Scientific Information Systems for the sea
Local identifierHFR-MED_TLN-NCE
Global identifier7104
Last revised2021-03-11