Progress towards a french high frequency ocean surface wave radar network

Abstract : The use of High Frequency ocean Radars (HFR) as a research and monitoring tool for the observation of the coastal ocean has steadily developed throughout the world over the last decades, especially in the US where more than one hundred sites are currently maintained in a multi-purpose operational network (https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/hf-radar/) all over the country coasts. Such a networking effort is currently being built at the EU level through the JERICO-Next H2020 program in link with Euro-GOOS, with the objectives to share expertises, best practice, quality control procedures and data dissemination tool and to carry the existing EU HFR systems to the level of a unified operational HFR network. The LEFE/GMMC working group ReNHFOR (Research and Networking for High Frequency Oceanographic Radar) acts at the French level to structure the French contribution to this PanEuropean HFR network and assists the French oceanography community in the development of new applications both for academic and operational purposes. This paper presents an overview of the technology, its state of development in France, its potential as a supporting tool for ocean modeling and monitoring, and the integration of French HFR activities in the EU context.