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Multistatic estimation of high-frequency radar surface currents in the region of Toulon

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Abstract

The high-frequency radar coastal network in Toulon operates in multistatic mode for the monitoring of the ocean circulation in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. With 2 transmitters and 2 receivers on 3 distant sites, it measures 4 different elliptical components of the surface velocity. We provide a methodology for improved current mapping using this augmented number of available projections and we show some typical results obtained during the year 2019. The validity and the quality of the reconstruction are assessed through comparisons with two types of in situ measurements, namely drifters’ velocities from a dedicated campaign and acoustic Doppler current profiler data from an opportunity oceanographic campaign. The results of these assessments confirm the accuracy of these high-frequency radar measurements and their ability to capture the meso- to submeso-scale variability of the near shelf circulation.

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Notes

  1. As of January 2020, the receiving array has been upgraded to a regular array of 12 antennas

  2. https://static.gsattrack.com/hardware/manufacturers/albatros-marine-technologies

  3. http://saved.dt.insu.cnrs.fr/

  4. see http://hfradar.univ-tln.fr/HFRADAR/

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Acknowledgements

The upgrade of the WERA HFR system in Toulon as well as one of the authors (Anthony Gramoullé) have been funded by the EU Interreg Marittimo program SICOMAR-PLUS; the drifters have been acquired in the framework of the EU Interreg Marittimo program IMPACT; the operational maintenance of the installations has been contracted to the Degréane Horizon company over the period 2019-2021. We acknowledge the University of Toulon and the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation for funding the first author. The long-term monitoring of the Northern Current is part of the Mediterranean Ocean Observation Service for the Environment (MOOSE). We thank the Parc National de Port-Cros (PNPC) for its support and hosting of our radar transmitter in Porquerolles Island. We also thank the “Association Syndicale des Propriétaires du Cap Bénat” (ASPCB) for allowing our receiver array at the Cap Bénat as well as the Group Military Conservation and the Marine Nationale for hosting our radar installation in Fort Peyras.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Toulon, France

    Dylan Dumas, Anthony Gramoullé, Charles-Antoine Guérin, Anne Molcard, Yann Ourmières & Bruno Zakardjian

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  1. Dylan Dumas
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  2. Anthony Gramoullé
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  3. Charles-Antoine Guérin
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  4. Anne Molcard
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Correspondence to Charles-Antoine Guérin.

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Dumas, D., Gramoullé, A., Guérin, CA. et al. Multistatic estimation of high-frequency radar surface currents in the region of Toulon. Ocean Dynamics 70, 1485–1503 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-020-01406-z

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