Two HF Radar Systems Installed in the Carolinas

Scientists from the University of South Carolina, in collaboration with the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, with assistance from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, are in the process of establishing two new High Frequency Radar (HF Radar) stations for monitoring the ocean surface currents and waves in Long Bay. One station is located on the Hobcaw Barony in Georgetown, SC while the other station is located at Caswell Beach, NC on properties managed by the Bell W. Baruch Foundation and the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell, respectively. Each station remotely measures the surface ocean currents up to 120 miles offshore and when combined they create maps of temporal and spatial distribution of waves and currents over the entire area.

The data collected from this installation are critical in helping scientists to understand the development of phytoplankton blooms along the outer shelf that are seen in satellite imagery. During the summer, development of phytoplankton is related to eddies generated by the Gulf Stream and could cause low oxygen conditions. However, the mechanisms for bloom development during the winter is not well known yet. Phytoplankton blooms in the winter may prove to be beneficial, as it could provide a favorable feeding environment for larval fishes.

For more information, contact George Voulgaris from the USC Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at gvoulgaris@geol.sc.edu.