Present and Future Direction of Use of Ocean Radar in Japan

Ocean radars are installed on the ground to observe the current and waves on a wide area recently. About 50 ocean radars have been installed in Japan. The current and waves have been monitored primarily by various research institutes of universities and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) of Japan. The result of observation by ocean radars in the enclosed sea (Tokyo Bay Ise Bay Osaka Bay and Ariake Sea) and open sea (Kuroshio and Tsushima Current) has been provided to the public through the Internet. In enclosed sea areas, short and medium range-radars using 24 and 42 MHz, respectively, are installed. The long-range radars using 5-13 MHz are installed in the open sea. This paper introduces present and future of ocean radar in Japan based on the result of technical development by MLIT and the knowledge obtained through our research and development of ocean radars.