South Australian Gulfs HF Radar Ocean Wind and Current Measurements

Delayed-mode data from a WERA phased array HF radar system covering approximately 40,000 square kilometres bounded by Kangaroo Island and the Eyre Peninsula. The system operates at 8.512 MHz with a maximum range of 200 km, measuring surface currents, wind direction, and significant wave height. The data was contributed by the South Australia Research and Development Institute and is managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN).

Use Cases

• Modeling shelf current connections to regional influences based on measured surface currents.
• Analyzing cross-shelf exchange and upwelling systems based on ocean current and process data.
• Studying the distribution of sediments and nutrients based on circulation and wave drift measurements.
• Assessing larval dispersal for fisheries management based on environmental variability data.

Strengths

• Coverage area of approximately 40,000 square kilometres provides a substantial observation region.
• HF radar system operates at a specific frequency (8.512 MHz) and bandwidth (33 KHz) with a defined maximum range (200 km).
• Data includes multiple derived measurements: surface currents, wind direction, and significant wave height.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN)

Collection Method

Data collected by a WERA phased array HF radar system with 16-element receive arrays at Cape Wiles and Cape Spencer.

Geography

South Australian gulfs region bounded by Kangaroo Island to the east and the Eyre Peninsula to the north.