Real-time sea-state surveillance with Skywave Radar

To extract sea-state information from the ionospherically distorted echoes received by a skywave radar, we use a signal-processing strategy that permits real-time decisions about the quality of incoming data. This paper explains the need for an on-line processor and describes some of its engineering details. We use an array processor to quickly compute all the spectra required to display ocean waveheight, as well as some indices of data quality, while the radar interrogates an ocean cell. The results are shown in a test using an experimental radar that mapped waveheight over its North Pacific coverage area. Coverage efficiency was 85 percent, and the radar's waveheight estimates averaged 2ft(0.6 m) higher than those forecast by a numerical model.