Accuracy assessment of high frequency radar current measurements in the Strait of Gibraltar

Abstract

An assessment of accuracy of a three site short-range (27 MHz) CODAR SeaSonde HF radar network deployed in the Strait of Gibraltar is attempted by comparing its surface current estimates with measurements from a moored point current meter. Radial and total current vectors are compared for a 47 day period from 19 October to 4 December 2013, yielding angular offsets, root mean square errors and correlations in the range 2ͦ–30ͦ, 8–22 cm s-1 and 0.31–0.81, respectively. Statistics improve when the measured antenna pattern is used, except at one radar site. A self-consistency check in overwater baseline reveals that the dominant source of velocity differences is HF radar variance error.