Toward an integrated HF radar network in the Mediterranean Sea to improve search and rescue and oil spill response: the TOSCA project experience

High-frequency (HF) coastal radars measure current velocity at the ocean surface with a 30–100 km range and 1–3 km resolution, every 0.25–1 h. HF radars are well suited to many applications, such as search and rescue (SaR), oil-spill mitigation and ecosystem management. Here we present a first organized core of 12 HF radars installed in five sites in four countries (Greece, Italy, France and Spain) within the European MED project, the Tracking Oil Spill and Coastal Awareness (TOSCA) network. Dedicated experiments tested radar capabilities to estimate transport driven by currents, which is the key feature for all the above applications. Experiments involved the deployment of drifters, i.e., floating buoys, acting as proxies for substances passively advected by currents. Using HF radars the search range is reduced by a factor of 1.6 to 5.3 after 24 h. The paper also underlines the importance of sharing common tools for HF radar data processing and the need to mitigate radio frequency interference. The effort can be regarded as an initial step toward the creation of a Mediterranean or European HF radar network, crucial for any European integrated ocean observing system (IOOS).