O2(1)_Bouksim_HF radar pilot project in Morocco.pdf

CIMO-TECO 2016, Madrid, Spain

ROYAUME DU MAROC

MINISTERE DELEGUE AUPRES DU MINISTRE DE L’ENERGIE, DES MINES, DE L’EAU ET DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT, CHARGE DE L’EAU

DIRECTION DE LA METEOROLOGIE NATIONALE

HF radar pilot project in Morocco

Hassan Bouksim, Rabia Merrouchi & Taoufik Zaidouni

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OVERVIEW• Introduction• Objectives• Composition• HF radars Operating Principle• Project phases• HF Radar Installation (equi install & APM)• HF Radar products• Challenges of the technology• Data Validation• Perspectives


Introduction• Morocco is a marine country (2

facades, 3500 km Coasts)• lack of marine observational data

(ship, sat, buoy)• several in situ equipment were

quickly lost (severe marine conditions, difficulties relating to monitoring and maintenance)

• Maritime Equipment strategy, recommends giving priority to remote sensing and to develop the use of satellite observation data.

• HF radar project is just part of this strategy.

44 Synoptic WS4 Upper air WS156 Automatic WS7 Weather Radar


Objectives• strengthen real-time monitoring of marine

environment by measuring oceanic parameters (currents and waves)

• enhance marine weather warning and accordingly, contribute to the safety of maritime navigation and conduct of Search and Rescue operations at Sea.

• coastal protection and the prevention of environmental risks (marine pollution)

• model assimilation and validation, • complement the climatology of the area and

improve the knowledge of the hydrodynamics.

CIMO-TECO 2016, Madrid, Spain 5




Composition• Two radars operating in the High Frequency 5MHz

with a range of 200km. Each site contains a transmitter, a receiver and a control computer.

• Central platform of Data Management consists of :a server "COMBINE" which collects data from sites

and generates 2D maps of surface current (with server Backup),

Marine information server "PORTUS" which processes the information and transforms it into value-added products, integrating measured data into information products, accessible through a multi-user web server (with Backup server).



HF Radar PrincipleActive instrument, with a transmitter and a receiver, measures the speed of movement of a target moving away or approaching the radar. The principle of Bragg resonance shows that the echo is maximum for waves whose wavelength is equal to half the incident wavelength.


HF Radar Principle


First Ordre Bragg peaksused for surface current(Approachingor retreating)

Second Bragg peaks used for waves(Approachingor retreating)

HF Radar Principle


Project phases• HF radar project began in late 2014. Some milestones :• April, 2015: Start of field work• July, 2015: Authorization of the frequency from the

National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency.• September to October, 2015: Trainings• October, 2015: Equipment delivery• November, 2015: Installation of Casablanca Radar • February, 2016: Installation of Temara radar • March 03, 2016: Installation and Commissioning• March 30, 2016: Provisional acceptance


HF Radar Installation Installation

• The HF radar equipment was installed at two locations, Casablanca port (National Port Agency) and Rabat (Civil Protection Command of Temara).


HF Radar Installation Antenna Pattern Measurment

• APM data processing shows normal and consistent data, with a little distortion to the NE of Casablanca antenna which can be generated by the main port breakwater, the VTS tower or other existing sources of distortion.


HF Radar products2D Maps of Surface Current


HF Radar productsWaves on concentric arcs


HF Radar productsTime Series of Wave Characteristics


HF Radar productsFloating objects drifting map


Challenges

• Selecting of suitable sites (open place away from electromagnetic pollution and climatic hazards, telecommunication, power supply, secure and easily accessible.

• Mastery of this new technology and knowledge of its limits, to better interpret the HF radar information.


Challenges• For example: Impact of solar activity

during 11 and 13 April 2016.Temara Morocco

Silleiro Spain

16,56m


Challenges• Change of physical and electromagnetic

environment of the sitesNovember 2015 during installation July 2016


Data Validation

Courtesy of Hugh Roarty (Rutgers University)


Data Application


Data Application

Courtesy of Hugh Roarty (Rutgers University)


Data ValidationHs Radar vs Hs WW3



Scatterplot of HsRad vsHsWW3Mean Square Error (MSE) of Hs: 0.22mRoot Mean Square Error (RMSE): 0.47mMean Absolute Error (MAE): 0.35m

Good correlation of significant wave height (0.84)



Scatterplot of TsRad vs TsWW3MSE of Ts: 3.86s

RMSE: 1.97sMAE: 1.60s

Periods are generally overestimated

Scatterplot of DirRad vs DirWW3Mean Error of Wave Direction: -10.16°, an underestimation of WW3 direction.RMSE: 23.13°MAE: 18.34°


Perspectives• Further validation by in-situ data.• Integration of operational models in DMN,

including surface wind parameters and waves characteristics.

• HF radar network extension south to cover the energy port of Jorf Lasfar,

• Extension to the Gibraltar Strait by installing two HF radars on Tanger Med and Cap Malabataand data exchange with Spain to cover the Strait.


Perspectives2011 / Punta Carnero 25 MHz

SeaSonde

2012 / Tarifa 25 MHz SeaSonde

2011 / Ceuta 25 MHz SeaSonde

Spain HF Radar


Cover with 2 radars Total cover with spain radars

Perspectives


• Thank you for your attention

Documents

O2(1)_Bouksim_HF radar pilot project in Morocco.pdf