Oceanography radar system WERA: features, accuracy, reliability and limitations

Authors: THOMAS HELZEL, MATTHIAS KNIEPHOFF, LEIF PETERSEN

Abstract: The WERA system (WavE RAdar) is a shore based remote sensing system to monitor ocean surface currents, waves and wind direction. This long range, high resolution monitoring system based on short radio wave radar technology. The vertical polarised electromagnetic wave is coupled to the conductive ocean surface and follows the curvature of the earth. This over the horizon oceanography radar can pick up back-scattered signals from the rough ocean surface (Bragg effect) from ranges of up to 200 km. The physical background, technical concept and environmental boundary conditions are explained. Results for various installations from all over the world demonstrates the features and flexibility of the system: high resolution monitoring (range cell size of 300 m) over a range of 60~km or long range applications with 3 km range cell size, all generated with the typical high temporal resolution of 10 minutes. The technical performance depends on the site geometry, system configuration and the environmental conditions. These aspects are discussed to enable interested users to estimate the potential of this technology for their specific application.

Keywords: Radar, WERA, Current, Waves.

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