Ocean surface current mapping with bistatic HF radar

• Main Authors: ISAACSON JAMES, LIPA BELINDA J, BARRICK DONALD E, LILLEBOE PETER M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 17.04.2003
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION,OR SHOCK; METEOROLOGY; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; TESTING

A bistatic radar system (100), method and computer program (178) are provided for mapping of oceanic surface conditions. Generally, the system (100) includes at least one transmitter (102) and at least one receiver (106) located separate from one another, and each having a local oscillator locked to a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal received by a GPS synchronization circuit (134) to provide the necessary coherency between the transmitted and received signals. Preferably, the present invention enables an existing backscatter radar systems to be quickly and inexpensively upgraded to a bistatic radar system (100) through the addition of a transmitter (102) and/or receiver (106) separate from the backscatter radar system, the GPS circuit (134), and use of the computer program (178) and method of the present invention.