Comparison of measured surface currents from high frequency (HF) and X-band radar in a marine protected coastal area of the Ligurian sea: Toward an integrated monitoring system

Abstract

Two different ground-based remote sensing instruments can be used for the near-real-time monitoring of surface waves and currents, namely the high frequency HF radar and the microwave X-band radar. The HF system reaches larger offshore distances at lower spatial resolutions and provides a poorer measurement of the wave-induced currents in very shallow waters. On the other hand, the X-band system achieves significantly higher spatial resolutions with a smaller offshore coverage. This study provides a preliminary comparison of the measured surface currents, obtained by the two different tools where they overlap. The comparison showed a good agreement between the measures with some discrepancies ascribable to the difference in the characteristics of the two radar technologies.