A marine navigation radar is designed to detect objects and reject clutter such as sea surface waves.
A wave radar needs to do just the opposite: maximize signal from sea surface waves. Unlike other wave radar systems on the market, FutureWaves has developed a specialized marine radar to optimize performance for ocean wave characterization by making two key modifications:
- FutureWaves utilizes a vertically-polarized antenna, which gives a signal-to-noise ratio 4x greater than the horizontally-polarized antennas used by other wave radar systems on the market, presenting a significant advantage in wave measurement accuracy and range
- FutureWaves utilizes Doppler measurement technology to directly measure ocean surface wave orbital velocity allowing for wave timing and vessel motion forecasts, and resulting in more accurate wave characterization over a wider range of ocean conditions
FutureWaves Key Components
Shown from left to right: Laptop display option, GPS nodes for radar mast, radar unit with attached VV antenna, two processing units, MET sensor, and the MRU