Integration between X-Band Radar and Buoy Sea State Monitoring

Abstract. The paper presents the results of an integrated buoy and X-Band radar sea state monitoring activity carried out on the southern coast of Sicily. The work involved the integration of buoy and radar data, as well as the simultaneous acquisition of Significant Wave Height (SWH) values from two similar radar sets located at a slight distance from each other – a rare and fortunate circumstance which took place during two storms in the winter 2014–2015. Good consistency and repeatability was reached between the two radars and the reliability of X-Band radar as a wave monitoring system was confirmed by the comparison with the buoy wave meter. A further and important result of the work is the knowledge gained on the short spatial and temporal fluctuations of the sea state: while such Small Scale Storm Variations (SSSV) cannot be easily discriminated from electromagnetic effects and from algorithm artefacts, some important progress has been done towards the identification of this phenomenon. Integration of different sensors is the key to a definite improvement of sea state monitoring for most coastal applications.