A MULTI-FREQUENCY RADAR FOR REMOTE SENSING OCEAN CURRENTS

WE PROPOSE TO DESIGN A FREQUENCY-AGILE MICROWAVE RADAR SYSTEM TO MEASURE SURFACE CURRENTS IN HARBORS AND ESTUARIES. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF OBTAININGHIGH RESOLUTION MEASUREMENTS FROM PIERS, BRIDGES AND FIXED NAVIGATION AIDS. IT WILL TRANSMIT MULTIPLE FREQUENCIES SIMILAR TO THE HIGHLY-SUCCESSFUL UMASS STEPPED FREQUENCY DELTA K (SFDK) RADAR, WHICH RECENTLY OBTAINED THE MOST ACCURATE CURRENT MEASUREMENTS MADE TO DATE. HOWEVER, THE PROPOSED RADAR WILL UTILIZE A NEW DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING CAPABILITY THAT WILL PROVIDE RELIABLE REAL-TIME CURRENT MEASUREMENTS FOR A WIDER RANGE OF OCEAN WAVELENGTHS. IN THIS PHASE I EFFORT, QUADRANT ENGINEERING WILL OPTIMIZE THE (1) MICROWAVE SYSTEM CONFIGURATION, (2) DATA ACQUISITIONAND SIGNAL PROCESSING AND (3) SURFACE CURRENT MAPPING CAPABILITY OF THE RADAR SYSTEM. QUADRANT WILL TRY TO MINIMIZE THE FABRICATION COST OF A SYSTEM THAT CAN BE BUILT AND TESTED DURING PHASE II OF THIS PROJECT. DURING PHASES I AND II, QUADRANT INVESTIGATORS WILL FREQUENTLY CONSULT WITH EXPERTS FROM NOAA AND OTHER GROUPS IN ORDER TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM THAT WILL BE AFFORDABLE AND OF SIGNIFICANT USE FOR MONITORING THE SURFACE CURRENT FLOW IN HARBORS AND ESTUARIES.