Sea Surface Current Mapping with HF Radar – a Primer

Shore-based oceanographic High Frequency (HF) radars are frequently used to remotely sense and map coastal sea surface currents. This chapter begins with a review of the development and utilization of HF radar sea-echo interactions and their relationship in the determination of the radial component of the sea surface current and vector coverage map, followed by a brief discussion of recent ongoing HF radar observations on the West Florida Shelf (WFS). Reported are HF radar performance and its complicated relationships with environmental factors