HF ocean radar data from the Coffs Harbour site measures real-time sea water velocity where the East Australian Current is at its narrowest and swiftest. The Australian Ocean Data Network provides this data, which also supports calculations for wind direction and significant wave height. Last updated metadata indicates a timestamp of 2026-05-05.
Use Cases
- Modeling coastal current dynamics based on real-time sea water velocity measurements.
- Studying biological connectivity and nutrient transport influenced by the East Australian Current.
- Analyzing the impact of ocean currents on urban marine water quality mitigation.
- Validating ocean circulation models using surface current data from a phased array radar system.
Strengths
- Data is collected by a WERA phased array radar system operating at 13.920 MHz with a 100 km maximum range.
- Focuses on a scientifically significant location where a major ocean current begins to separate from the coast.
- Metadata indicates a specific last updated timestamp of 2026-05-05 10:55:12.266510.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
- Available file formats include PDF, WCM, PNG, and HTML; the primary data format is not explicitly stated.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Data collected by a WERA phased array HF ocean radar system with 16-element receive arrays.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 10:55:12.266510; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, with radar sites at Red Rock and North Nambucca.