Two U.S. professors say they are devising methods to offer greater weather safety to maritime operators through real-time meteorological data. Todd Sikora, assistant professor of meteorology at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and George Young of Penn State are working to make vital sea surface information available to mariners.
Current sea surface data are provided from widely spaced buoys placed near coastlines but little is known about the surface conditions between buoys.
Sikora and Young have received a $230,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to study the use of satellite synthetic aperture radar imagery as a marine meteorological tool.
"When wind blows over water, very small waves develop that roughen the surface," said Sikora. "By using SAR imagery … we have been able to identify the presence of meteorological phenomena such as fronts and cyclones."
Sikora and Young, along with Millersville senior Matthew Stepp, say enhanced SAR information might allow a fishing ship's captain to decide if it is worth the risk to enter a potentially dangerous area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is also studying the use of SAR in the small inlets and mountain gaps along Alaska's southeast coast.
