Improved direction of arrival methods for oceanographic HF radars

摘要

Advances in oceanographic HF radar processing methods improving the accuracy and resolution of the ocean current measurements, would reveal new understanding of coastal ocean dynamics. Processing techniques presently employ MUSIC for direction finding, with a low number of data snapshots, often with low SNR. We report on the investigation of alternative signal processing methods, including the application of Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) for direction finding. Simulated radar backscatter, based on the realistic flows of a high-resolution regional ocean model, is used to evaluate new processing techniques. Preliminary results suggest some improvement with the use of MLE. By addressing limitations in HF radar observations, this study addresses the important problem of observing coastal circulation at the scales that are relevant to near shore dynamics, and thus to the many practical applications employing these observations.