Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023)

During the past four decades, both high frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR) and microwave nautical radar (MNR) have become important tools for ocean remote sensing.

HFSWR is able to provide sea surface current, wind, wave and target information “ over the horizon ” due to the strong interactions between the HF (3-30 MHz) signal and the ocean gravity wave field. Increasingly frequent marine activities (e.g. transportation, offshore oil and gas exploration) result in the necessity for installing such radar systems on floating platforms (e.g., a ship or an offshore oil platform). However, a major challenge is that the platform motion will deteriorate the radar performance by distorting the radar Doppler spectra. Another challenge to the HF radar applications is contamination due to ionospheric clutter. To improve the utility of HF radar, both problems must be addressed.

Although X-band MNR, which operates at around 10 GHz on land or ship, is a sort of “ line-of-site ” sensor, it can image the sea surface with relatively high spatial and temporal resolutions. Unfortunately, its performance in sea surface sensing will be negatively affected by rain. In order for this widely deployed system to provide real-time information under all weather conditions, countermeasures for rain-contamination need to be sought.

The proposal aims to solve the above challenges by developing both theoretical models and application algorithms. The theoretical models are expected to provide an improved understanding of radio wave scattering from the ocean surface, while the application algorithms will bring significant assets to both HF and MNR radar communities and can be integrated into commercial radar products that may be exported internationally.

A long-term goal of this research is to build a broad coastal ocean observation network that consists of HFSWR, MNR, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in Eastern Canada and Arctic regions. Such a network will improve marine safety through providing high quality sea surface data products to meet the ongoing needs of the Department of National Defence, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and other marine stakeholders such as the shipping and oil and gas industries. With financial support from NSERC, Memorial University will continue to train highly qualified personnel to augment the radar ocean remote sensing capacity of Canada and maintain its status as one of the leaders in this field.