SEMINAR: OI Seminar Series - Lucy Wyatt

Title: The Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network facility of IMOS – present and future.

Abstract: HF ocean radars provide maps of surface currents over meso-scale areas of coastal ocean and make it possible to map real-time dynamics of sea surface currents across substantial areas of inshore waters. Coastal currents provide a wealth of information about heat and nutrient transport, mechanisms for larval dispersal, pollution transport and sediment redistribution. The Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN), part of the research infrastructure of the Integrated Marine Observing System (http://imos.org.au), has installed HF radars at 12 locations around the coast of Australia including 4 in WA at Fremantle, Guilderton, Seabird and Cervantes. This seminar will give a brief introduction to the technology, an overview of the current status of these systems and explore the utility of the data they provide.

Bio: Professor Wyatt is a mathematician and oceanographer whose research has been focussed on obtaining wave and wind measurements from HF radar systems. She has developed a numerical inversion method for extracting a directional spectrum for ocean waves from HF radar data (extended into real-time); has developed algorithms for extracting wind direction from HF radar data; and has developed statistical methods to assess the accuracy of wave and wind measurements from HF radar data for operational applications eg. energy contained in wave trains for use in coastal engineering, or sustainable energy generation. Professor Wyatt will describe how this is done using some examples from installations elsewhere in the world and discuss progress towards implementing these methods on the Australian systems.