Operational requirements for oceanographic ground-wave HF radars: Experiences from the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network

The Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network, ACORN, comprises 12 radars located in pairs to provide surface current, wave and wind measurements at 6 locations around the Australian Coast. It is part of the Federally-funded Integrated Marine Observing System, IMOS. WERA phased-array radars have been installed at 4 of these locations and SeaSonde direction-finding radars at the other two. In this paper the performance of these systems, in terms of radar and metocean data availability and quality will be discussed. Some of the issues that impact on performance will be identified and possible solutions discussed with a view to developing a clear recommendation for future operational systems to augment the existing network.