HF coastal ocean radar in an observing system

Abstract

The HF coastal ocean radar in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef is part of a national integrated marine observing system, and the data will be available for research applications from a national archive. The primary archived product is hourly values of surface current vectors, significant wave heights and wind directions at over 1000 grid points at 4 km spacing over the shelf and adjacent ocean. A review of currently associated research projects includes validation of hydrodynamic modelling, tsunami detection, connectivity of reefs and islands, empirical physical process modeling, and combining radar surface current data with satellite-based sea surface temperature data to produce an index of mixing in the vertical column of water.