Testing the University of the High Frequency radar in Spain

In October and November 2000, Dr. Klaus Werner Gurgel, from the University of Hamburg, designer of the WERA radar, took the opportunity of a deployment of his radars in the framework of the EuroROSE project, to test the first radar unit built for the University of Hawai'i. Two sites were installed near Gijon, Spain, one on Cabo Penas with the old University of Hamburg electronics, and one in Cabo Torres with the new University of Hawai'i electronics. Shown here are the antennae configuration at Cabo Penas, and the University of Hawai'i electronics in Cabo Torres. Thomas Helzel, owner of Helzel Messtechnik, and builder of the electronics for the University of Hawai'i radars, also visited the sites.

Overview of the receive antenna array (16 elements), and the electronics container in the foreground

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Dr. Gurgel (right), and Ing. Helzel (left), in front of the receive antenna array

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Other view of the receive antenna array

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Close up view of antenna construction

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The antenna is installed on top of sheer cliffs... with excellent EM coupling to the ocean

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The 4-element 30-watt transmit array, down slope from the receive array

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The Hawai'i electronics rack. Top down: radar controller and frequency synthesizer, 8-channel complex receiver #1, 8-channel complex receiver #2, A/D converter (not yet the UH one), centralized power supply. Dr. Gurgel left and Ing. Helzel right.

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Results from this test are available for here. Preliminary results were given by Klaus Werner Gurgel:

From gurgel@ifm.uni-hamburg.de Sat Oct 14 19:20 MET 2000
From: Klaus-Werner Gurgel 
To: Pierre.Flament
Subject: WERA at Gijon

Hi Pierre,

We are now using your radar at the Cabo Torres site
during the EuroROSE Gijon Experiment. After some final tests
and calibration, the system is doing a very good job. There have
been a lot of improvements (which I requested) since the version
which was ready before I came to Honolulu.

Please find two figures attached:

Fig. 1: Radial components from Torres, your radar

Fig. 2:the 2-dim current field based on both sites.


Individual current images can be found here, and
a movie can be found here.

The working range in this example is limited by the EuroROSE
measurement grid, which is 40x40 km and where the radial components are
interpolated to.  The actual working range is larger, but I had no time
yet to define a new grid and reprocess the data (which is possible, as
we store the complete raw data sets).

Best wishes, Klaus-Werner

-- 
Dr. Klaus-Werner Gurgel