Abstract
High Frequency Radar (HFR) is a land-based remote sensing instrument offering a unique insight to coastal ocean variability, by providing synoptic, high frequency and high resolution data at the ocean atmosphere interface. HFRs have become invaluable tools in the field of operational oceanography for measuring surface currents, waves and winds, with direct applications in different sectors and an unprecedented potential for the integrated management of the coastal zone. In Europe, the number of HFR networks has been showing a significant growth over the past 10 years, with over 50 HFRs currently deployed and a number in the planning stage. There is also a growing literature concerning the use of this technology in research and operational oceanography. A big effort is made in Europe toward a coordinated development of coastal HFR technology and its products within the framework of different European and international initiatives. One recent initiative has been to make an up-to-date inventory of the existing HFR operational systems in Europe, describing the characteristics of the systems, their operational products and applications. This paper offers a comprehensive review on the present status of European HFR network, and discusses the next steps toward the integration of HFR platforms as operational components of the European Ocean Observing System, designed to align and integrate Europe's ocean observing capacity for a truly integrated end-to-end observing system for the European coasts.
Introduction
The accurate monitoring of ocean surface transport, which is inherently chaotic and depends on the details of the surface current field at several scales, is key for the effective integrated management of the coastal zone. This has been the main driver for the growth of coastal observatories along the global ocean coasts (Willis, 2015). Among the different measuring systems, High Frequency Radar (HFR) technology offers a unique insight to coastal ocean variability, by providing high resolution data at the interface between ocean and atmosphere. Recent reviews on this technology and its applications worldwide have been provided by several authors (Gurgel et al., ; Fujii et al., ; Paduan and Washburn, ; Wyatt, 2014). HFRs are important sources of data for understanding the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and the different coastal circulation processes like ocean waves, wind-induced currents, tidal flows, (sub)mesoscale variability, and inertial oscillations.
A growing number of European studies have been developed on the use of HFR data toward a better understanding of the surface ocean coastal dynamics (Shrira et al., 2001; Rubio et al., ; Schaeffer et al., ; Uttieri et al., 2011; Sentchev et al., ; Berta et al., ; Shrira and Forget, 2015; Stanev et al., 2015; Falco et al., ). Moreover, since HFR data provide measurements of currents with a relatively wide spatial coverage and high spatial and temporal resolution in near real time (there are systems with lags of just 20 min, after generating the data), they have become invaluable tools in the field of operational oceanography.
HFRs, utilized for oceanographic purposes, typically operate in the band between 8 and 37 MHz corresponding to wavelengths of 37–8 m. At these wavelengths the electromagnetic waves propagate along the electrical conductive water surface. Therefore, HFRs enable the measurement of radar backscatter beyond the line of sight, meaning beyond the horizon, which also gave them the name of Over the Horizon Radars. In general an HFR sends out modulated radio waves and listens to the returned signal, which is mainly affected by the surface waves propagating along radar look direction that are of the order of the transmitted wave length (Bragg scattering). From the measured backscatter several oceanic parameters can be obtained, such as: ocean surface currents (e.g., Paduan and Rosenfeld, ; Gurgel et al., ; Shrira et al., 2001), waves (e.g., Wyatt et al., 2006), winds (e.g., Shen et al., 2012), tsunami (e.g., Lipa et al., ) and discrete targets (ships) (e.g., Maresca et al., ).
Around 400 HFRs are installed worldwide and are being used in a diverse range of applications (Paduan and Washburn, ; Roarty et al., ). In Europe, the number of systems is growing with over 50 HFRs currently deployed and a number in the planning stage. Nowadays, these systems are integrated in many European coastal observatories with proven potential for monitoring (e.g., Wyatt et al., 2006; Molcard et al., ; Berta et al., ) and even providing short-term prediction of coastal currents (e.g., Orfila et al., ; Solabarrieta et al., 2016; Vilibić et al., 2016), and inputs for data assimilation and the validation and calibration of numerical ocean forecasting models, especially near the coast (e.g., Barth et al., , ; Marmain et al., ; Stanev et al., 2015; Iermano et al., ). The growing number of HFRs, the optimization of HFR operation against technical hitches and the need for complex data processing and analysis, highlight the urgent requirement to increase the coordination in the HFR community. A stronger coordination for more efficient data sharing and development of HFR products adapted to the final user needs is the key to foster the application of HFR, and to allow its further development.
Several initiatives at European level have arisen in response to this need and work presently toward a coordinated pan-European HFR network. Within the framework offered by these initiatives and the opportunity set by two ongoing research projects with a strong HFR component, a survey has recently been launched, collecting information on more than 50 operational HFR installations. The outputs of this survey offer a first-time diagnostic of the current development of this technology in Europe and its applications. Partially based on the survey results, this paper offers an overview of the European HFR activities and discusses relevant steps toward the expansion of this technology in Europe. The potential of HFRs to allow an unprecedented step forward in the understanding of ocean processes and transport mechanisms along the European coasts and to provide invaluable products for the development of the European coastal operational oceanography, can only be fully exploited under strong European cooperation, in coherence with the existing initiatives at European and international levels.
Basic principles of HFR operation and data specifications
HFRs are land-based remote sensing platforms. The use of HFR for monitoring surface currents in the coastal zone was first proposed by Stewart and Joy (1974), following the works on the link between HFR backscatter and surface wave phase speed (Crombie, ; Barrick, ). HFR relies on resonant backscatter resulting from coherent reflection of the transmitted wave by the ocean waves whose wavelength is half of that of the transmitted radio wave. This is the Bragg scattering phenomenon and it results in the first order peak of the received (backscattered) spectrum (Paduan and Graber, ). In absence of currents, the frequency of the first order peak has a Doppler shift caused by the phase velocity (speed) of the waves in the radial direction of the transmitting antenna. Two peaks (Bragg peaks) are shown in the received signal spectrum, symmetric respect to the central transmitting frequency, and associated with the waves traveling toward (right peak) and away (left peak) from the radar. If gravity waves propagate within a current field, an additional Doppler shift affecting both peaks is produced and an asymmetric spectrum can be obtained. The difference between the theoretical speed of the waves and the observed velocity, resulting in the Doppler shift in the observed Bragg peaks, is due to the velocity of the radial component of the current (the current in the same direction of the signal), that can be therefore estimated. Bragg scattering is also responsible for the second order bands in the radar spectrum but here the scatter is from non-linear ocean waves which propagate at different speeds and hence results in a different Doppler shifts and also from multiple scattering. The surface current estimated by HFRs has been suggested to include the entire, or parts of, the wave-induced Stokes drift (Graber et al., ; Law, ; Ardhuin et al., ), while other authors provide evidences against this assumption (Röhrs et al., ). In any case the magnitude of this component is expected to be typically smaller than the uncertainties contained in the observation of the Eulerian currents by HFRs (Ardhuin et al., ; Röhrs et al., ).
In order to locate the scattering area, spatial resolution has to be achieved in range and azimuth (see Gurgel et al., ). For the directional resolution, the most conventional design is to use a linear array of monopoles (Figure 1) and to process using the beam-forming (BF) method. This method provides a Doppler spectrum for every cell in the field of view of the radar. So, the radial current velocity deduced from the first order echo, and the wave parameters deduced from the second order, are located in the range and azimuth domain. Azimuthal resolution is dependent on the number of elements in the antenna array and its total length, and can sometimes benefit from alternative processing methods (Sentchev et al., ). Another alternative is to perform a procedure called direction-finding (DF) in the frequency domain to obtain azimuthal resolution. In this case, radial velocities are obtained from spectral data by using the MUSIC (MUltiple SIgnal Classification) algorithm (Schmidt, ). HFRs using DF technique need a periodic calibration (recommended every 1–2 years). The resulting directional antenna pattern is required for an accurate determination of the radial currents and their direction of arrival (Kalampokis et al., ).
Figure 1
To obtain surface current vectors, an HFR network must include at least two radar sites, each one measuring the radial velocity in its look direction. Thus, once the radial components of the surface currents are calculated, they can be combined in the overlapping area, to provide a surface current vector map (Figure 2). Coverage area and spatial resolution depend respectively on HFR operating frequency and available bandwidth (which is limited by international and national regulations and most of the time is connected with the HFR operating frequency, see Table 1). The typical range resolution ranges from several hundred of meters to 6–12 km. The theoretical maximum range is depending more strictly on the operating frequency and can reach up to more than 200 km (at lower frequencies). Common values for a system of two HFRs operating at 13 MHz are: coverage of 70 × 70 km and range resolution of 1.5 km. Coverage and resolution of the total map are also affected by the geometry of the radar network along the coast (Heron and Atwater, ). The typical spatial scales resolved by the HFRs depend mainly on the resolution of the data, and thus mainly on the frequency of operation of the systems (Table 1). Several examples in the literature deal with the observation through HFR of small scale eddies. For instance, Parks et al. () and Archer et al. () investigated O(10–20) km eddies along frontal regions of the Florida Current using a 16 MHz. Similar spatial scales where studied by Sentchev et al. () after improving resolution of a 12.14 MHz radar using alternative processing methods. Other authors have utilized very HFRs with a high horizontal resolution of (250–400 m) to study O(2–3) km vortices over the shelf in different areas (e.g., Shay et al., ; Kim, ; Kirincich, ).
Figure 2
Table 1
| ITU frequency bands | Radar wavelength | Ocean wavelength | Ocean wave period | Equivalent integration depth for current | Typical minimum acquisition time | Typical range resolution | Typical maximum range for current analysis | Upper significant wave height limit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fem (kHz) | λ (m) | Λ (m) | T (s) | Λ/8 (cm) | >= (1/δf *3) (minutes, 60 s) | dr (km) | Rmax (km) | H1/3 (m) | |
| Long range | 4438 | 67 | 34 | 4,6 | 420 | 35 | 12 | 220 | 25 |
| 4488 | |||||||||
| 5250 | 57 | 28 | 4,3 | 356 | 30 | 12 | 175 | 25 | |
| 5275 | |||||||||
| Medium range | 9305 | 32 | 16 | 3,2 | 201 | 16 | 12 | 80 | 13 |
| 9355 | |||||||||
| 13,450 | 22 | 11 | 2,7 | 139 | 11 | 3 | 60 | 13 | |
| 13,550 | |||||||||
| 16,100 | 19 | 9 | 2,4 | 116 | 9 | 3 | 60 | 13 | |
| 16,200 | |||||||||
| High resolution | 24,450 | 12 | 6 | 2,0 | 76 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 7 |
| 24,600 | |||||||||
| 26,200 | 11 | 6 | 1,9 | 71 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 7 | |
| 26,350 | |||||||||
| 39,000 | 8 | 4 | 1,6 | 48 | 4 | 300 m | 20 | 3 | |
| 39,500 | |||||||||
| 42,000 | 7 | 4 | 1,5 | 44 | 4 | 250 m | 15 | 3 | |
| 42,500 |
HFR performance vs. operating frequency.
Each row corresponds to one of the ITU frequency bands allocated for oceanographic radar with the lower and upper band limits in frequency. The radar wavelength is calculated for the center of the frequency band. The ocean wavelength (Λ) is deduced as the half of the radar wavelength. The ocean wave period (T) is considered for deep water and deduced from the relation of dispersion for ocean waves. The equivalent integration depth for current measurement is commonly used as to be the ocean wavelength divided by 8 (Λ/8), simplification of Stewart and Joy (1974). The typical minimum acquisition time refers to the integration time for calculating the Doppler spectra (time-frequency analysis by fast Fourier transform) with a precision of 5 cm/s on the radial velocity, and is not dependent of the antenna processing method. The range resolution is calculated taking into account the typical bandwidth and the sweep repetition frequency. The typical maximum range for current analysis is based on an averaged transmitted power of 40 watts and standard conductivity (temperature, salinity, sea state and radio interference noise can affect this). At the upper limit of the significant wave height, the 2nd order saturates the 1st order and no current measurements are possible.
The first order part of the signal is also used to estimate wind direction under the assumption that the Bragg waves are locally wind driven and aligned with the wind. A one (wind direction) or two (direction and spreading) parameter model of the directional distribution of wind-wave energy is assumed and the parameters of this are found by fitting to the relative amplitude of the two first order peaks (Wyatt et al., 1997). When radar data quality is good, this approach has been shown to give good results (Wyatt, 2012) except in very low sea-states when the wind and Bragg waves are no longer aligned. Wyatt (2012) quotes RMSDs between radar and measured or modeled wind direction of between 30 and 50°, but in Wyatt et al. (2006) a value of 23° was found when low sea-states were removed from the analysis. As mentioned above, the second order signal is mostly generated by non-linear waves. Barrick and Weber (
Figure 3

Example of HFR-derived wave data (28/06/2011 02:00) in South Australia showing a bimodal sea state (swell from the SW and local sea from the E and winds from NE): (A) Significant wave height and peak direction (color bar provides significant wave height in meters), (B) Wind direction and directional spreading (color bar provides directional spreading in degrees), (C) Frequency spectrum (blue) and mean direction at each frequency (red) at two locations, one in shallower seas (top, black dot on the maps A,B) and the other (bottom, black star on the maps A,B) near the shelf edge (x axis: Hz, y axis: spectral density), (D) The corresponding directional spectra (x axis: Hz, y axis: degrees; spectral density, in m2.s.radian−1, is color-coded).
Figure 4

Map of ship detections in the German Bight resulting from fusion of HFRs at Wangerooge and Büsum covering the German Bight of the southern North Sea. The ship detections are plotted in green and the corresponding positions of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) are depicted in gray.
HFRs provide current data only relative to the surface within an integration depth ranging from tens of cms to 1–2 m, depending on the operating frequency (see typical values in Table 1). Moreover, data coverage is not always regular, for a number of reasons. Spatial and temporal data gaps may occur at the outer edge, as well as inside the measurement domain. This can be due to several environmental and electromagnetic causes: the lack of Bragg scattering ocean waves or severe ocean wave conditions (see Table 1 for reference), low salinity environments, the occurrence of radio interference. Geometric Dilution Of Precision (GDOP, Chapman et al.,
Another important issue is the assessment of data uncertainty. As described by Lipa (
Significant efforts have recently been devoted to identify and eventually replace occasional non-realistic radar current vectors, usually detected at the outer edges of the radar domain (Wyatt, 2015). The potential elimination of accurate data, when the discriminating algorithm is based on tight thresholds, is the main disadvantage of quality-control procedures. Some fine-tuning, according to the specific local conditions of the system, is thus required to have the right trade-off between confirmed outlier identification and false alarm rate (Gómez et al.,
Several HFR systems exist in Europe; nevertheless two are the most widespread: WERA (WavE Radar, developed by the University of Hamburg in the 1990s) and CODAR (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar, developed at NOAA's Wave Propagation Laboratory in the 1980s). The main differences between WERA and CODAR radars are analyzed in detail in Gurgel et al. (
Applications of HFR measurements in the framework of the european coastal integrated management
The main potential of HFR resides in the fact that these systems can offer high temporal and spatial resolution synoptic current maps. Presently, no other observational technology can offer such a detailed insight to mesoscale coastal ocean surface currents and a continuous near real time monitoring of coastal transports with such high temporal and spatial resolutions (Paduan and Washburn,
In Europe, an increasing literature on HFR reveals the ongoing efforts toward the applications of this technology in different sectors. Since the applications related to the management of the marine environment and emergencies at sea require accurate prediction of Lagrangian trajectories, several studies have assessed the effectiveness of trajectory predictions using currents derived from HFR (Menna et al.,
Figure 5

Example of Lagrangian application. Series of 12-h snapshots of the time evolution of 10,000 tracer particles in the Gulf of Naples, deployed along the urban littoral, dispersing over the whole Gulf and eventually reaching the opposite Sorrento peninsula in the turn of 3 days (Gulf of Naples AMRA-CoNISMa-UniParthenope HFR system; for validation of these results with satellite imagery see Uttieri et al., 2011).
As stated previously, HFRs provide current data relative to the first 1–2 m of the water column. However, HFR-derived data can be exploited to provide information regarding the structure in the upper water column. The most widespread method to extract information of the velocity shear within the interior of the sea is the use of multiple-frequency radars. In their pioneering work, Stewart and Joy (1974) used HFRs transmitting at several frequencies between 3 and 12 MHz, and recorded an increase of the velocity magnitude with increasing frequency of transmission. More observations of current vertical differences using multiple frequencies (Barrick,
Figure 6

Example of mixed-layer depth estimation (color-coded, in meters) from HFR in the region of Black Sea inflow in the Mediterranean (NE Aegean Sea), see Zervakis et al. (2016).
Other approaches are based on the combination of HFR data with information on the water column, from in situ moored instruments, remote sensors or regional/coastal circulation model simulations. These approaches offer further interesting possibilities for understanding the three-dimensional coastal circulation (O'Donncha et al.,
HFRs provide researchers with a wealth of surface current data that can be used as benchmark for the rigorous skill assessment of operational circulation models in key coastal areas (Cosoli et al.,
Approaches like empirical models can be used to forecast future currents based on a short time history of past observations. Some recent works have applied empirical models to HFR data to obtain Short Term Predictions (STP), typically in a 24-h window. Barrick et al. (
HFR activity in europe
This section is made upon the results of the HFR European survey (Mader et al.,
Table 2
| CODE | Network name | No. of sites | Country | Operator | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TO | Torungen | 1 | Norway | Norwegian Meteorological Institute | O |
| NN | Northern Norway | 2 | Norway | Norwegian Meteorological Institute | F |
| HH | Hook of Holland | 2 | Netherlands | Rijkswaterstaat | O |
| GB | German Bight | 3 | Germany | Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht | O |
| WH | Wave Hub HFR | 2 | UK | Plymouth University | O |
| BR | BRAHAN | 2 | UK | Marine Scotland Science | P |
| IW | Ireland West Coast | 4 | Ireland | National University of Ireland | O |
| MO | MOOSE | 3 | France | Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) | O |
| IR | Iroise | 2 | France | Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine | O |
| HC | HFCotentin | 2 | France | University of Caen | F |
| JN | JERICO-NEXT | 1 | France | Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) | F |
| IC | IBIZA CHANEL | 2 | Spain | Sistema de Observación y Predicción Costero de las Islas Baleares (SOCIB) | O |
| PE | PDE NETWORK | 9 | Spain | Puertos del Estado | O |
| GA | Galicia Network | 2 | Spain | Instituto Tecnolóxico para o Control do Medio Mariño (INTECMAR) | O |
| RV | Ria de Vigo | 2 | Spain | University of Vigo | O |
| BC | Basque Country | 2 | Spain | Euskalmet—AZTI Marine Research | O |
| PL | PLOCAN | 3 | Spain | Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) | F |
| PO | Portugal Network | 4 | Portugal | Instituto Hidrografico | O |
| GT | Gulf of Tireste | 1 | Slovenia | National Institute of Biology | O |
| GU | Gulf of Trieste | 1 | Italy | Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) | O |
| SP | SPLIT | 2 | Croatia | Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries | O |
| GN | Gulf of Naples | 3 | Italy | Analysis and Monitoring of Environmental Risk—Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze delMare-Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope (AMRA-CoNISMa-UniParthenope) | O |
| TL | TirLig | 2 | Italy | National Research Council—Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR) | O |
| GM | Gulf of Manfredonia | 4 | Italy | National Research Council—Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR) | P |
| SC | SICOMAR | 2 | Italy | Laboratorio di Monitoraggio e Modellistica Ambientale - National Research Council (Consorzio LaMMA—CNR) | O |
| SI | SIC | 2 | Italy | Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) | F |
| CA | CALYPSO | 2 | Italy | University of Palermo | O |
| CP | CALYPSO | 2 | Malta | University of Malta | O |
| DA | Dardanos | 2 | Greece | Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) and University of the Aegean | P |
| HB | Haifa Bay | 2 | Israel | The Institute of Earth Sciences | O |
List of HFR systems included in the inventory.
Figure 7 shows the location of the systems listed by the survey, with a graphical representation of the footprint areas for each antenna. The distribution of the identified ongoing and past sites amongst the different Regional Ocean Observing Systems (ROOS) areas coordinated by the European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS)1 is: 52% (32) in MONGOOS (Mediterranean Operational Network for the Global Ocean Observing System), 28% (17) in IBIROOS (Ireland-Biscay-Iberia Regional Operational Oceanographic System) and 20% (12) in NOOS (North West European Shelf Operational Oceanographic System). Based on the responses provided, 92% (48) of the operational installations are considered to be permanent. The remaining systems are temporary, with undefined dates of end of use.
Figure 7

Map with the location of the 73 European HFR sites listed in the survey, and their theoretical range (represented by the circles scaled to typical radial range associated to the frequency of operation of each of the systems). Past systems or those no longer providing operational data are plotted in red, future deployments in yellow and operational systems in green. The name of the networks is displayed using the coding listed in Table 2.
Figure 8 shows the evolution in time of the number of HFR systems in Europe. The first long-term installation registered was that of the Gulf of Naples at the end of 2004 (note that there were many HFR deployments in Europe previous to this date, but the information on those systems was not collected by the survey). From 2004 until 2009 a moderate growth rate of two new HFRs per year is observed. From that date to now, the rate has increased to around six new HFRs installed per year, a tendency which is expected to be maintained at least in the next year.
Figure 8

Temporal evolution of the number of HFRs in Europe. The bold black line shows the number of operational systems per year (y axis). The timeline of each of the HFR installations is provided by the discontinuous lines. Past systems or those no longer providing operational data are plotted in red, future deployments in yellow and operational systems in green. The name of each of networks as provided in the survey is given besides the corresponding sites' timelines. The name of the networks is displayed using the coding listed in Table 2.
The most typical European HFR network is built of two sites and operated for several years. The operating frequencies of the systems range from very high frequency like the one in Ria de Vigo (Spain) working at 46.5 MHz (thus providing a range resolution finer than 200 m, however with a limited range) to long range systems working at 4.5 MHz (providing a range resolution of 5 km) as the ones used in Spain or UK. They offer typically temporal resolution of 1 h or less and variable spatial coverage depending on their working frequency and system design. Around 80% of the European HFRs are being or have been operated using DF, while a 20% are using BF in a phased array. One system falls in the middle of these two categories, using DF on eight receiving antenna array. The systems are operated by different kinds of institutions, from Academia to technological centers and from meteorological agencies to governmental organizations. The frequency of in situ technical maintenance operations is variable. Most of the systems are maintained in situ periodically (every 3–6 months or yearly), while for 20% of the systems in situ maintenance is sporadic; they are performed after changes at the antennae arrays, or technical issues appear. For several systems, additional remote check is performed on a monthly basis or even daily. The occurrence of interference is reported, with around 30% of the systems experiencing interferences at some level, which reduce the Signal to Noise Ratios (SNRs) with consequent degradation of the measurements accuracy (shorter radial range, gaps, increasing uncertainty). Systematic interferences (human origin) have been reported mostly on 13.5 MHz systems, mainly during the afternoon. In some cases they can be avoided reducing and/or shifting the operating bandwidth. Occasional interferences seem to be related to environmental noise at different times during the day or to the ionosphere effect during the evenings (and especially in summer time).
Finally, it is worth noting that, from the information gathered in the survey, there are a number of well-established users of HFR data. In response to the question about which where the main users of the systems run by each of the institutions, 20 out of 23 chose at least one of the listed options, which involved different activity sectors (Figure 9). The most popular identified user is Academia, followed by European or National Maritime Safety Agencies and Weather Services. Some specific users were identified by Spanish operators: the Spanish Maritime Safety Agency (SASEMAR) and Ports Authorities. The number and diversity of users can be expected to grow if the number of systems with operational and available data grows. At the present moment, only 28% of the systems are connected directly or indirectly (through other national networks) to the European Data System—EMODnet Physics [see Section HFR Networks and Initiatives within the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS)]. Most significantly, the majority of the institutions whose systems are not connected are keen to connect to the European Data System in the future, provided suitable tools and guidance are made available.
Figure 9

European HFR users identified by the surveyed institutions. Twenty out of 23 institutions operating HFRs chose at least one option among those displayed. Multiple choices were enabled, so one institution could identified more than one user.
HFR networks and initiatives within the european ocean observing system (EOOS)
In the past few years, several groups have been working at European level toward a coordinated development of the coastal HFR technology and its products, mainly based on the observation of surface ocean currents (Figure 10). This work is aligned with initiatives at international level, where the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is coordinating international efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) for exploiting the growing potential of Earth observations. Indeed, the GEO Work Plan 2012–2015 endorsed a task to plan a Global HFR Network for data sharing and delivery and to promote the proliferation of HFRs (Roarty et al.,
Figure 10

Schematic view of the different components of the European HF Radar network and initiatives within the EOOS.
The European ocean observing capacity is organized through a complex cluster of institutions, programs and initiatives. As a result, this capability, especially that concerning land-based or in situ observations, is highly fragmented. Those dispersed components vary in the degree of coordination or interaction between them and generally suffer from a lack of sustained funding. However, the European ocean observing community has identified the need for an inclusive, integrated, and sustained pan-European framework linking the currently disparate components. The establishment of the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) will consist of a coordinating framework designed to align and integrate Europe's ocean observing capacity2.
One of the main actors in the European operational oceanography is EuroGOOS, which operates within the context of the Global Ocean Observing System of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC GOOS). EuroGOOS brings together, in regional assemblies (ROOS), institutions from European countries providing operational oceanographic services and carrying out marine research. In 2015, EuroGOOS launched Ocean Observing Task Teams to organize and develop different ocean observation communities, and foster cooperation to meet the needs of the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS). Hence, the EuroGOOS HFR Task Team (HFR TT)3 was set up around the development and use of this coastal technology, in order to coordinate and join the technological, scientific and operational HFR communities at European level. The goal of the Task Team is to develop the European HFR network, contributing to the EOOS, and assist the standardization of HFR operations, data and applications, in coordination with international initiatives.
Other European infrastructures devoted to providing users with operational marine data and products at a pan-European level are: the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet, Calewaert et al.,
In 2015, HFRs become part of the Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory (JERICO)7. In the JERICO-NEXT (Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories) project (funded by the European Commission's H2020 Framework Program) several actions are dedicated to the harmonization of the procedures related to the HFRs data processing, correction, QA/QC and analysis. The efficient integration of HFR in the coastal observatories is one of the main objectives of this structuring European project. Based on these achievements, another ongoing European project, Innovation and Networking for the integration of Coastal Radars into European mArine SErvices (INCREASE) (CMEMS Service Evolution 2016), is building the tools for the integration of HFRs into CMEMS. Finally, the SeaDataCloud project, launched in 2016, will contribute to the integration and long term preservation of historical time series from HFR into the SeaDataNet infrastructure.
Other initiatives are gathering national or international expert teams working in common in a number of regions along the European coasts. In Italy, the Italian flagship project RITMARE8 has been focusing its efforts on the integration of the existing local observing systems, toward a unified operational Italian framework and on the harmonization of data collection and data management procedures (Serafino et al.,
Toward a pan-european HFR network
HFRs offer an unprecedented opportunity to take a step forward in the understanding of coastal ocean processes and transport mechanisms along the European coasts. Moreover, the progressive inclusion of HFR in European coastal observatories will stimulate applied research and transfer toward increasing applications of HFR in notable issues like the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the sustainable development of the Blue economy or the maritime safety. To reach the potential that this technology can offer to the European coastal operational oceanography, the HFR and EOOS communities need to elaborate a broad plan toward the establishment of a real and effective European HFR Network, in coherence with the existing initiatives at international levels.
One of the very first steps taken by the European HFR community is focused on the homogenization of HFR data and metadata formats and of QA/QC procedures. The main aim is to design and implement standards for data processing and mapping of product uncertainties following international recommendations for processing and calibration/correction. This activity, carried out in the framework of JERICO-NEXT, INCREASE, EMODnet, and the EuroGOOS HFR TT, is devoted to the identification of standards facilitating the consistent and valid semantic interpretation of information and data. These standards should ensure both efficient and automated data discovery and interoperability, with tools and services coherent with the long term goal of an international integration of the future European HFR network.
In parallel, the definition of a standard set of QA/QC procedures is in progress. The present state of the art is led by the activity of the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), through the Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Real-Time Oceanographic Data (QARTOD) program (U.S. IOOS - Integrated Ocean Observing System, 2016). The next step for the European community will be to identify from this background the set of tests to be adopted as standard QC procedures for real-time HFR data. Further steps toward a HFR data network should be oriented toward contributing to unlocking access to data and to supporting and organizing data sharing under open data policies, following EuroGOOS Data Management, Exchange and Quality (DATAMEQ) Working Group recommendations10.This effort will also contribute to increase the application of HFR to different sectors, and promote this technology as crucial elements for coastal integrated management at the service of public authorities. In parallel, advanced signal processing is an open research line that can make evolve the robustness of HFR data (currents, waves and other) and, thus, increase the applications of this technology.
These improvements could be valuable, in particular, within the frame of CMEMS, fully committed to inform end-users and stakeholders about the quality and reliability of the marine forecast products routinely delivered, fostering downstream services and user uptake. Indeed, the integration of European HFR data into CMEMS is presently being discussed, and the procedure is being analyzed. HFR data could ultimately be incorporated in the In Situ Thematic Assembly Center of CMEMS, which gathers, homogenizes and quality-controls observational in situ data, provides an assessment of the quality of the products for users, and, if relevant, generates elaborated products (e.g., multi-sensor data products, derived from these observations). Incorporating HFR data in CMEMS and EMODnet would be useful for users in academia for the understanding of coastal ocean dynamics, including waves; for a homogenized operational monitoring of the coastal ocean along the European coasts; for downstream users and applications such as SAR operations, local sea circulation, fish management, oil-spill mitigation, off-shore structures management, ship routing etc. It should also be mentioned that in the near future the numerical modeling system for European seas implemented as part of CMEMS will, at least in some regions, provide spatial resolutions, which are comparable to HFR observations. HFR data could then also be used for the validation of numerical models of the ocean and, since other observations are already assimilated into this system, HFR data might also ultimately be assimilated in the models.
Another important need to be addressed through international collaboration is to coordinate the use of the limited radio frequency bands and protect them either from reciprocal HFRs radio interference or from unauthorized radio sources. As an example, the International Telecommunication Union has advised that the separation distances between a HFR and the border of other countries shall be greater than 80–270 km over land, and 200–920 km over sea depending on the frequency and noise levels, unless prior explicit agreements from affected administrations are obtained. This point is critical in Europe, where many countries share borders, and one important first coordination step is now in progress between national authorities and research groups of Spain, France and Italy, with the aim of defining a frequency sharing policy in the North Western Mediterranean. Since the presence of interference by unauthorized radio sources is common at certain frequencies, another priority is to coordinate the enforcement of the International Telecommunication Union frequency band allocation in each country.
Apart from the efforts focused on making the HFR technology and its applications progress, the development of HFR networks is essential for optimizing the sampling strategy of the coastal monitoring programs. The dynamic nature of the coastal zone requires improved temporal and spatial resolution and/or coverage of existing observing systems. Since HFR is currently offering unique time and spatial resolution for ocean surface current mapping from affordable investments, several European and international reports have emphasized the use of this technology to cover the needed requirements for ocean surface currents monitoring (e.g., IGOS,
Major advances in Earth monitoring are more efficiently earned through international cooperation. A surface current monitoring program in European coastal seas should be developed creating synergies between national efforts and promoting a common vision at this regional scale. This strategic regional approach is commonly used in Europe both for operational implementation (ROOS within EuroGOOS) and for resource management and conservation activities (Ecoregions, ICES, OSPAR). In addition, characteristics of the HFR technology like the space coverage and the need for building a network from different sites deployed along the coast, fully justify shared cross-boundary systems. Good examples are currently taking place between Spain and Portugal, Italy and France, Spain and France, Italy and Malta. An important step forward will be to promote a European approach in defining gaps and key priorities for future investments with common benefits in the different European seas. In this context, one of the aims of the JERICO-NEXT project is to propose a roadmap for the future observation of the European coast according to six scientific and societal topics, from the sensor to the data flow. Amongst these 6 topics one deals with coastal currents and transports estimation and includes as a key element the HFRs. This roadmap will build upon the returns of experiences led in and out of the JERICO-NEXT project, including proposal for a better harmonized and an improved quality of the HFR data and products. It will support and promote other initiatives and consortia willing to build a sustainable future for their systems. JERICO-NEXT is also willing to present a governance and/or organization schema for its future toward a sustained entity that could be integrated in a bigger one.
Finally, for reaching the necessary hydrodynamic and transport monitoring component of the environmental programs, integration with wider horizontal coverage from satellite and vertical coverage obtained from profilers (ADCPs in fixed stations or gliders) should accompany the development of the HFR network. In this sense, the ongoing research related to the extension of the surface information of HFRs to the sea interior or toward regional scales, in particular by association with other observational data and modeling results, will potentially open new grounds for HFR applications.
Statements
Author contributions
AR, JM, LC, CM, AG, and AN: Contribution to the main structure and contents of all sections. Drafting, review and final approval of the submitted version. In addition, AR produced the figures on HFR current data and survey results, JM the map of HFR activity. JH and LW: Contribution to the main structure and contents, to Sections Basic Principles of HFR Operation and Data Specifications to HFR Networks and Initiatives within the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS). Drafting, review and final approval of the submitted version. LW and JH contributed with figures on HFR operation and applications of wave and discrete target data. CQ, JS, PL, EZ, VZ, and MH: Contribution to the main structure and contents, namely to Sections Basic Principles of HFR Operation and Data Specifications and Applications of HFR Measurements in the Framework of the European Coastal Integrated Management. Drafting, review and final approval of the submitted version. In addition VZ contributed with figure on MLD estimation from HFR and the related discussion on HFR applications. CQ made the table of HFR characteristics and contributed to the review of HFR signal processing. EZ provided the figure on Lagrangian estimations. PG, AM, IP, AN, and CF: Contribution to the main structure and contents, namely to Section HFR Networks and Initiatives within the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) and Toward a Pan-European HFR Network. Drafting, review and final approval of the submitted version.
Acknowledgments
This work has been carried out as part of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) INCREASE project. CMEMS is implemented by Mercator Ocean in the framework of a delegation agreement with the European Union. In addition, the work has been partially supported by JERICO-NEXT (Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory—Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories, H2020 Contract#654410) project and the European Marine Observations and Data Network—EMODnet Physics (MARE/2012/10 Lot 6 Physics—SI2.656795). The work of AR and JM was also supported by the Directorate of Emergency Attention and Meteorology of the Basque Government. The work of CNR-ISMAR was also partially supported by the Italian Flagship project RITMARE. The French contribution to this work was supported by Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, program LEFE (Les Enveloppes Fluides et l'Environnement), project RenHFor. EZ was partly supported by the Parthenope University internal individual research grant (DR 727/2015). The HF radar-processing toolbox HFR_Progs use to produce OMA was provided by D. Kaplan, M. Cook, D. Atwater, and J. F. González. The inventory of the different HF radar systems operating in Europe was gathered thanks to the survey launched by the EuroGOOS HFR Task Team, in the framework of INCREASE and JERICO-NEXT projects. We are very grateful to all the people who kindly provided the information of their radar and related activities. We want to thank U. Martinez (AZTI) for her help with Figure 7 edition. This paper is contribution no. 806 from AZTI-Marine Research.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling Editor declared a shared affiliation, though no other collaboration, with one of the authors CQ and states that the process nevertheless met the standards of a fair and objective review.
- BF
Beam Forming
- CMEMS
Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service
- CODAR
Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar
- DATAMEQ
Data Management, Exchange and Quality
- DF
Direction Finding
- EOF
Empirical Orthogonal Fucntions
- EOOS
European Ocean Observing System
- ESFRI
European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures
- GDOP
Geometric Dilution Of Precision
- GDOSA
Geometrical Dilution Of Statistical Accuracy
- GEO
Group on Earth Observations
- GEOSS
Global Earth Observation System of Systems
- HFR TT
HF Radar Task Team
- HFR
High Frequency Radar
- IBIROOS
Ireland-Biscay-Iberia Regional Operational Oceanographic System
- ICES
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
- INCREASE
Innovation and Networking for the integration of Coastal Radars into EuropeAn marine Services
- IOOS
Integrated Ocean Observing System
- JERICO-NEXT
Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory – Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories
- MONGOOS
Mediterranean Operational Network for the Global Ocean Observing System
- MSFD
Marine Strategy Framework Directive
- MUSIC
Multiple Signal Classification
- NOOS
North West European Shelf Operational Oceanographic System
- OMA
Open-boundary Modal Analysis
- QA/QC
Quality Assessment/Quality Control
- QARTOD
Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Real-Time Oceanographic Data
- ROOS
Regional Ocean Observing Systems
- SAR
Search and Rescue
- SASEMAR
Spanish Maritime Safety Agency
- SNR
Signal to Noise Ratios
- STP
Short Term Prediction
- WERA
WavE Radar.
Abbreviations
Footnotes
3.^http://eurogoos.eu/high-frequency-radar-task-team/
4.^http://marine.copernicus.eu/
6.^http://www.emodnet-physics.eu/map/
7.^JERICO-RI, http://www.jerico-ri.eu.
10.^http://eurogoos.eu/data-management-exchange-quality-working-group-data-meq
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Summary
Keywords
high frequency radar, operational oceanography, coastal observing systems, radar remote sensing, surface currents, surface waves, model assessment, data assimilation
Citation
Rubio A, Mader J, Corgnati L, Mantovani C, Griffa A, Novellino A, Quentin C, Wyatt L, Schulz-Stellenfleth J, Horstmann J, Lorente P, Zambianchi E, Hartnett M, Fernandes C, Zervakis V, Gorringe P, Melet A and Puillat I (2017) HF Radar Activity in European Coastal Seas: Next Steps toward a Pan-European HF Radar Network. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:8. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00008
Received
30 September 2016
Accepted
09 January 2017
Published
20 January 2017
Volume
4 - 2017
Edited by
Hervé Claustre, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Reviewed by
Fabien Roquet, Stockholm University, Sweden; Ananda Pascual, Spanish National Research Council, Spain
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Copyright
© 2017 Rubio, Mader, Corgnati, Mantovani, Griffa, Novellino, Quentin, Wyatt, Schulz-Stellenfleth, Horstmann, Lorente, Zambianchi, Hartnett, Fernandes, Zervakis, Gorringe, Melet and Puillat.
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*Correspondence: Anna Rubio arubio@azti.es
This article was submitted to Ocean Observation, a section of the journal Frontiers in Marine Science
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