Marlan’s CoastSense systems offer an innovative remote sensing solution for monitoring nearshore surface current directions and velocities in near-real-time.
The service
Marlan installs and operates for you, a shore-based radar system that continuously images a large area of the coast and derives a high resolution vector map describing surface current directions and velocities in your area of operations. Data are updated every 15 minutes allowing you unprecedented situational awareness.
How it works
Marlan’s CoastSense system uses shore-based radar sensors to image wave fields within line-of-sight and typically 4-6 km range. Waves in the presence of a current are subject to a Doppler Shift and by analysing the behaviour of these waves the system is able to infer the magnitude and direction of the current. Resulting current vectors compare well with existing technology, even in shallower waters allowing this system to supplement or replace a network of buoys or bed-mounted instruments.
The solution
Other methods of measuring currents provide only a single point measurement. Marlan’s CoastSense systems provide the solution to cost-effective wide-area monitoring of surface currents by providing a virtual buoy network over a large area.
Features
- Remote, autonomous and continuous data collection
- Near-real-time observations without expensive telemetry systems
- Wide-area coverage, 4 – 6 km range from the radar
- Same system can be used in combination with other CoastSense data services to provide a full nearshore morphological monitoring solution
- Ideal for ports and harbours where knowledge of local hydrodynamics is critical to operations
Benefits
- Understand and record hydrodynamic regimes to make more cost-effective coastal management decisions
- Monitor many data points over a wide area for comparable cost to a traditional single point measurement
- Feed data to models to make more accurate predictions
- Gain deeper understanding of local coastal processes
- Optimise dredging and beach nourishment activities
