The WERA system (WavE RAdar) is a shore based remote sensing system to monitor ocean surface currents, waves and wind direction. This long range, high resolution monitoring system is based on short radio wave radar technology. The vertically polarized electromagnetic wave is coupled to the conductive ocean surface and follows the curvature of the earth. This over the horizon oceanographic radar can pick up backscattered signals from the rough ocean surface (Bragg effect) from ranges of up to 200 km. Results for various installations from all over the world demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the system. The combination with numerical oceanographic models allows a significant improvement of the forecasts of currents and waves. Experiments in the very dynamic coastal waters off the French coast near Brest show that this technique provides reliable data even under harsh environmental conditions. The improved forecasts are valuable in any phase of offshore installations and it can be used for Search and Rescue purpose as well as for environmental protection tasks in case of a hazard in the coastal zone. Due to the on-shore installation an extreme high data availability (>98% of the time) can be achieved, as reported by the French institute SHOM. The actual research topic, to derive wind field data from these ocean measurements, will be introduced as well and some samples are shown. Mapping of the wind direction with an ocean radar is state of the art and validated. The estimation of wind speed shows good agreement with reference measurements only for a very limited range of wind speeds. This range for useful wind speed measurements needs to be extended. In conclusion it can be stated that this kind of a remote sensing instrument can provide very helpful information for offshore installations. These data are reliable and the onshore installation makes it even more attractive. The reduced accuracy of wave and wind measurements at very low sea states and low wind situations need to be taken into account.
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