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From Sea Clutter to
Wave
Spectra
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Development of the WaMoS II®
Wave Radar System began at the
German GKSS-Research
Center in the early 80's. Within the GKSS Technology
Transfer program, the technology was sourced out of the
Research Center in 1995. Since then WaMoS II®
has been commercially available for
operational wave and current measurements.
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WaMoS II®
has been operating onboard the Ekofisk 2/4k PPCoN, owned by
Philips Petroleum since 1992. MetNo
uses data from Ekofisk for their 'Extreme Wave Warning' |
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When
the sea surface close to the antenna (up to 1.5 sea-miles) is
targeted, all radar equipment receives a noise-signal that is called
"sea clutter". Output from the radar is
fed through a proprietary analog to digital converter, then to a
PC. The analysis
software is optimized to measure the directional sea state
information in near real time
from this “sea clutter” to produce a Polar image such as the one
below.
Images are linked together to produce a graphical display such as
the one below.
Note
the ship movements on the right hand side of the screen, the
frequency direction spectrum in the top center, and the wave
parameters on the top left. A polar image is presented on the bottom
left, along with a wave energy/frequency chart and historical
overview in the bottom center. The display can also be configured
to show surface current data, and other information.
Sea-Image Corporation is a distributor of OceanWaves
GmbH products
