X-BAND RADAR SYSTEM TO OBSERVE LOCAL COASTAL PHENOMENA IN NEAR-REAL TIME: SOME EXAMPLES OF STUDIES AND MONITORING

This work deals about the X-band nautical radar system as an useful observational tool for many local coastal phenomena. The sea state knowledge has a key role in the evaluation of the vulnerability of the coastal zone, in particular coastal erosion, and consequently the potential development and use of numerical models to predict its evolution. X-band radar measurements were conducted to observe the spatial and temporal variations of the sea-state parameters in several sites along Italian coasts. Among these, herein we reported about four of them: Bagnara Calabra, Giglio Island, Cape Granitola and Monasterace Marina. These surveys allowed to monitor the coastline, the directional wave spectra, the sea surface current fields and the significant wave heights. The examples of studies and monitoring are here reported to demonstrate the potential of the X-band radar technology as a monitoring tool to advance the understanding of the linkages between sea conditions, near shore sediment dynamics and coastal change.