Joint analysis of coastal altimetry and high-frequency (HF) radar data: observability of seasonal and mesoscale ocean dynamics in the Bay of Biscay

• Published in: Ocean science Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 1265 - 1281
• Main Authors: Manso-Narvarte, Ivan, Caballero, Ainhoa, Rubio, Anna, Dufau, Claire, Birol, Florence
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 16-10-2018; European Geosciences Union; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Algorithms; Altimeters; Analysis; Area; Coastal currents; Coastal zone; Coasts; Correlation; Data; Datasets; Dynamics; Earth Sciences; Eddies; Environmental monitoring; Evaluation; HF radar; Mesoscale eddies; Mesoscale phenomena; Mesoscale processes; Missions; Observability (systems); Ocean circulation; Ocean currents; Ocean dynamics; Oceanography; Oceans; Radar; Radar data; Sampling; Satellite altimetry; Satellites; Sciences of the Universe; Surface currents; Variability; Wind effects; Atlantic Ocean
• ISSN: 1812-0792; 1812-0784; 1812-0792
• DOI: 10.5194/os-14-1265-2018

Land-based coastal high-frequency (HF) radar systems provide operational measurements of coastal surface currents (within 1-3 m depth) with high spatial (300 m-10 km) and temporal ( ≤ 1 h) sampling resolutions, while the near-continuous altimetry missions provide information, from 1993 until today, on geostrophic currents in the global ocean with typical along-track and temporal sampling resolutions of > 7 km and > 9 days, respectively. During the last years, the altimetry community has made a step forward in improving these data in the coastal area, where the data present lower quality than in the open ocean. The combination of HF radar and altimetry measurements arises as a promising strategy to improve the continuous monitoring of the coastal area (e.g. by expanding the measurements made by HF radars to adjacent areas covered by the altimetry or by validating/confirming improvements brought by specific coastal algorithms or new altimeter missions). A first step towards this combination is the comparison of both data sets in overlapping areas.