Near-surface currents in Monterey Bay derived from a
network of shore-based HF radars are presented for
August-December 1994 and compared with those from April-
September 1992. Focus is placed on the low frequency
(2-30-day period) motions in the remotely sensed data
and on comparison of radar-derived currents with moored
current and wind observations, ship-based ADCP
observations, satellite-based surface temperature
imagery, and surface drifter velocities. The radar-
derived picture of the late summer mean flow is very
similar in the two realizations, and is consistent with
historical data. Flow is equatorward in the outer part
of the bay, poleward in a narrow band nearshore, and is
very sluggish in the middle of the bay. Low-pass-
filtered time series of radar-derived currents are
highly correlated with moored current observations and
with winds in the outer part of the bay. The vector
time series are also coherent across a broad frequency
band with currents typically in phase between 1 m and
9 m depths and with 1 m currents typically 
to the right of the wind. Overall, these
results confirm the utility of CODAR-type HF radars for
the study of coastal surface currents out to ranges 50
km from shore, particularly for highly averaged
fields. Data variability and comparison with in situ
observations for high frequency (1-48-h period) motions
point to the need to better characterize and minimize
sources of error in the radar observations.
AGU Index Terms: 4594 Instruments and techniques; 4512Currents Currents; 4219ContinentalShelfProcesses Continental shelf processes; 4572Upperoceanprocesses Upper ocean processes
Keywords/Free Terms: HF radar, Remotely sensed currents, CODAR.
JGR-Oceans 96JC01663
Vol. 101
, No. C10
, p. 22,749