May 2016
Recap of Ocean Radar Conference for Asia-Pacific, 2016
Thriving HF Radar Presence in Asia Reflected at ORCA Conference
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 With over 150 SeaSonde HF radars operating in Asia, CODAR Ocean Sensors and SeaSonde users across Asia were well-represented at the 3rd Ocean Radar Conference for Asia-Pacific (ORCA).
The event, hosted by China’s Wuhan University, attracted approximately 100 oceanographic scientists and engineers from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. The boost in attendance from 62 participants at ORCA’s 2012 inaugural meeting is a sign of the cohesion and strength of Asia’s HF radar community.
Chad Whelan, CODAR’s Chief Technical Officer, spoke on site suitability for tsunami detection. Warning time and estimate of intensity upon arrival are key metrics of radarsite utility, and bathymetry and coastline geometry are the drivers.
Tsunami detection proved to be a popular topic as Yu Toguchi and Satoshi Fujii of the University of Ryukyus usedSeaSondes to compare the natural oscillations of Ise baywith those generated by the Tohoku tsunami. Research at Hokkaido University conducted by Wei Zhang, graduate student of Naoto Ebuchi, is the first of its kind in Japan to detect sea ice off Hokkaido’s coast and quantify its drift speed using SeaSondes.
The Taiwan Ocean Research Institute and Kenting National Park Headquarters collaborated on an assessment of the trajectories and settlement of coral larvae during spawning in NanWan Bay, Taiwan. Taiwan Ocean Radar Observation System surface current data and wind data drove their projections, and results compared well with the coral reef distribution in NanWan Bay. These findings suggest future opportunities for SeaSonde output to meaningfully inform coral conservation and restoration planning.
At the conclusion of the 2016 conference, ORCA’s quest to promote communication across international lines and foster development and growth of the Asia-Pacific HF radar network was reflected in the formalization of its multinational steering committee. The next ORCA installment is expected to take place in Japan in 2018.
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