The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international collaboration of researchers interested in Earth's near-space plasma environment. This group uses high frequency (HF) radars and backscatter from magnetic field-aligned plasma irregularities to study space weather manifested in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. Space weather impacts many technological systems including Global Positioning System (GPS), spacecraft orbits, power distribution, surveillance radar, HF communications and transpolar aviation. This thesis explores, in detail, the techniques and challenges of constructing, testing, and operating a newly designed SuperDARN HF radar. In modern times, the use of such frequencies for radar is limited to very specific applications and thus the topics presented are not common place. A new antenna design, the twin terminated folded dipole (TTFD), is analyzed along with the modeling results for several proposed and constructed phased arrays for this design. Finally, an initial radiation pattern measurement for the TTFD is presented and notes on how a similar measurement might be conducted on a TTFD phased array. / Master of Science

The equatorial Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) is known to be an important source of inter-annual variability at mid and high latitudes in both hemispheres. Coupling between QBO and the polar vortex has been extensively studied over the past few decades, however, less is known about QBO influences in the mid-latitude mesosphere. One reason for this is the relative lack of instrumentation available to study mesospheric dynamics at mid-latitudes. In this study, we have used the mid-latitude SuperDARN HF radar at Saskatoon (52.16 N, -106.53 E) to study inter-annual variation in mesospheric winds. The specific aim was to determine whether or not a Quasi Biennial signature could be identified in the Saskatoon mesosphere, and if so, to understand its relationship with the equatorial stratospheric QBO. To achieve this goal, a technique has been developed which extracts meteor echoes from SuperDARN near-range gates and then applies least-squares fitting across all radar beam directions to calculate hourly averages of the zonal and meridional components of the mesospheric neutral wind. Subsequent analysis of 13 years (2002-2014) of zonal wind data produced using this technique indicates that there is indeed a significant QBO signature present in Saskatoon mesospheric winds during late winter (Jan-Feb). This mesospheric QBO signature is in opposite phase with the equatorial stratospheric QBO, such that when QBO (at 50 hPa) is in its easterly (westerly) phase, the late winter winds in Saskatoon mesosphere become more (less) westerly. To further examine the source of the signature, we also analyzed winds in the Saskatoon stratosphere between 5 hPa and 70 hPa using the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data set, and found that the late winter stratospheric winds become less (more) westerly when QBO is easterly (westerly). This QBO signature in the mid-latitude stratospheric winds is essentially the same as that observed for the polar vortex in previous studies but it is opposite in phase to the mid-latitude mesospheric QBO. We therefore conclude that filtering of gravity waves through QBO-modulated stratospheric winds plays a major role in generating the mesospheric QBO signature we have identified in the Saskatoon HF radar data. When the Saskatoon stratospheric winds are anomalously westward during easterly QBO, the gravity waves having westward momentum might be filtered out, depositing a net eastward momentum in the mesosphere as they propagate upwards. This would result in increased westerly mesospheric winds at Saskatoon. The opposite would happen when the equatorial QBO is westerly. / Master of Science

För övervakning av svenska vatten krävs noggranna mätningar av oceanografiska parametrar såsom våghöjd, vågriktning, ytvattentemperatur och ytströmmar. Mätdata för parametrarna samlas in av Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut (SMHI) och används till prognoser, sjöfart samt forskning. I denna studie undersöktes möjligheten att ersätta eller komplettera vågbojarna av modellen Directional Waverider MkIII som SMHI använder idag, med ny kommersiellt tillgänglig fjärranalysteknik. Projektet begränsades till att studera två högfrekvens-radartekniker och en X-bandradar. Studien är platsspecifik och utreder kvalitetsmässiga, ekonomiska och miljömässiga för- och nackdelar med de utvalda radarteknikerna i relation till vågbojarna. En litteraturstudie och modellering av data över parametrar som påverkar radarteknikernas räckvidd och datatillgänglighet genomfördes. Ur modelleringen drogs slutsatsen att det är möjligt att erhålla likvärdig datatillgänglighet med vågradar som med vågboj. Vidare modellering ledde till slutsatsen att radarteknikerna begränsas till ungefär hälften av sin optimala räckvidd i Östersjön på grund av den låga salthalten, och därför är Sveriges västkust bättre lämpad för placering av radarteknik. Undersökning av isbildning i havsvatten, som kan begränsa radarteknikernas räckvidd, ledde till slutsatsen att Sveriges västkust också är att föredra utifrån detta perspektiv. Med anledning av radarteknikers möjlighet att utföra mätningar över större områden, finner studien att det finns goda grunder för att motivera en ersättning eller komplettering av vågbojarna med modern radarteknik. Vidare talar radarteknikernas goda anpassningsförmåga, lägre inverkan på miljön och enklare underhållskrav jämfört med vågbojarna till dess fördel. Att övergå till radarteknik medför däremot högre installations- och driftkostnader i jämförelse med vågbojar.

La Mer d’Iroise est observée depuis 2006, par des radars à haute fréquence (HF) qui estiment les courants de surface. Ces mesures ont une finesse temporelle et spatiale pour permettre de capturer la dynamique fine du domaine côtier. Ce travail de thèse vise à la conception et l’application d’une méthode d’assimilation de ces données dans un modèle numérique réaliste pour optimiser le frottement sur le fond et corriger l’état du modèle afin de mieux représenter la circulation résiduelle de marée et les positions des fronts d’Ouessant en mer d’Iroise. La méthode d’assimilation de données utilisée est le Filtre de Kalman d’Ensemble dont l’originalité est l’utilisation d’une modélisation stochastique pour estimer l’erreur du modèle. Premièrement, des simulations d’ensemble ont été réalisées à partir de la perturbation de différents paramètres du modèle considérés comme sources d’erreur : le forçage météo, la rugosité de fond, la fermeture turbulente horizontale et la rugosité de surface. Ces ensembles ont été explorés en termes de dispersion et de corrélation d’ensemble. Un Lisseur de Kalman d’Ensemble a ensuite été utilisé pour optimiser la rugosité de fond (z0) à partir des données de courant de surface et d’un ensemble modèle réalisé à partir d’un z0 perturbé et spatialisé. La méthode a d’abord été testée en expérience jumelle puis avec des observations réelles. Les cartes du paramètre z0, optimisés, réalisées avec des observations réelles, ont ensuite été utilisées dans le modèle sur une autre période et les résultats ont été comparés avec des observations sur la zone. Enfin, des expériences jumelles ont été mises en place pour corriger l’état modèle. Deux méthodes ont été comparées, une prenant en compte la basse fréquence en filtrant la marée des données et du modèle pour réaliser l’analyse ; l’autre prenant en compte tout le signal. Avec ces expériences, on a tenté d’évaluer la capacité du filtre à contrôler à la fois la partie observée du vecteur d’état (courant de surface) et la partie non-observée du système (température de surface). / The Iroise Sea has been observed since 2006 by High Frequency (HF) radars, which estimate surface currents. These measurements offer high resolution and high frequency to capture the dynamics of the coastal domain. This thesis aims at designing and applying a method of assimilation of these data in a realistic numerical model to optimize the bottom friction and to correct the model state in order to improve the representation of the residual tidal circulation and the positions of the Ushant fronts in the Iroise Sea. The method of data assimilation used is the Ensemble Kalman Filter. The originality of this method is the use of a stochastic modeling to estimate the model error. First, ensemble simulations were carried out from the perturbation of various model parameters which are the model error sources: meteorological forcing, bottom friction, horizontal turbulent closure and surface roughness. These ensembles have been explored in terms of dispersion and correlation. An Ensemble Kalman smoother was used to optimize the bottom friction (z0) from the surface current data and from an ensemble produced from a perturbed and spatialized z0. The method is tested with a twin experiment and then with real observations. The optimized maps of parameter z0, produced with the real currents, were used in the model over another period and the results were compared with independent observations. Finally, twin experiments were conducted to test the model state correction. Two approaches were compared; first, only the low frequency, by filtering the tide in the data and in the model, is used to perform the analysis. The other approach takes the whole signal into account. With these experiments, we assess the filter's ability to control both the observed part of the state vector (currents) and the unobserved part of the system (Sea surface Temperature).

Graduation date: 2006 / Presented on 2005-12-02 / An empirical statistical model is developed that relates the non-tidal motion of the ocean surface currents off the Oregon coast to forecasts of the coastal winds. The empirical statistical model is then used to produce predictions of the surface currents that are evaluated for their agreement with measured currents. Measurements of the ocean surface currents were made at 6 km resolution using Long-Range CODAR SeaSonde high-frequency (HF) surface current mappers and wind forecasts were provided at 12 km resolution by the North American Mesoscale (NAM) model. First, the response of the surface currents to wind-forcing measured by five coastal National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) stations was evaluated using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. A significant correlation of approximately 0.8 was found between the majority of the variability in the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered surface currents and the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered wind stress measurements. The U and the V components of the measured surface currents were both shown to be forced by the zonal and meridional components of the wind-stress at the NDBC stations. Next, the NAM wind forecasts were tested for agreement with the measurements of the wind at the NDBC stations. Significant correlations of around 0.8 for meridional wind stress and 0.6 for zonal wind stress were found between the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered wind stress measured by the NDBC stations and the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered wind stress forecast by the NAM model. Given the amount of the variance in the winds captured by the NAM model and the response of the ocean surface currents to both components of the wind, bilinear regressions were formed relating the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered NAM forecasts to the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered surface currents. The regressions turned NAM wind forecasts into predictions of the seasonal anomalies of the low-pass filtered surface currents. Calculations of the seasonal cycle in the surface currents, added to these predicted seasonal anomalies, produced a non-tidal estimation of the surface currents that allowed a residual difference to be calculated from recent surface current measurements. The sum of the seasonal anomalies, the seasonal cycle, and the residual formed a prediction of the non-tidal surface currents. The average error in this prediction of the surface currents off the Oregon coast remained less than 4 cm/s out through 48 hours into the future.