The physical basis and operational implications of an expanded palette of missions for HF radar
The Atlanta AESS/GRSS joint chapter is pleased to host Dr. Stuart Anderson on Wednesday, May 27th. The talk will be held in Midtown Atlanta and streamed to Cobb County.
Speaker: Dr. Stuart Anderson, University of Adelaide, University College London
Title: The physical basis and operational implications of an expanded palette of missions for HF radar
Abstract: The remote sensing and surveillance capabilities of HF radars are well established, with roughly a dozen military grade skywave radars in operation by nation states, around twenty line-of-sight HF radars carrying out observations of the high latitude ionosphere, several hundred HF radars exploiting the surface wave mode of propagation, and a number of radars exploiting hybrid modes.
By far the most common tasks addressed by these radars are those relating to the measurement of ocean surface currents and sea state; radar products of varying degrees of detail and fidelity are routinely generated by many operational radar systems. It might be thought that the maturity of the basic concept underlying the technology, now in its seventh decade, would have led to a corresponding stability in the palette of missions that these radars address, and, indeed, that is largely the case. Moreover, the evident satisfaction of many scientists and radar clients with the present family of products has tended to reduce incentives for major refinement and expansion of the existing radar capabilities, with attention focusing instead on the practical applications of the standard products, civil and military.
This state of affairs is understandable, but not inevitable. A number of studies, especially some undertaken in the context of military radars, have explored ideas that could dramatically expand the capabilities of HF radar in its remote sensing roles, as well as its surveillance missions. The viability of several of these ideas has already been demonstrated experimentally, some are presently being investigated, and others are being modelled in detail to assess their merit. Almost all have implications for radar design, operating procedures and signal processing.
In this talk I shall describe some examples of these frontier applications of HF radar and indicate how their successful implementation can be achieved.
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- 950 Atlantic Dr NW
- Atlanta, Georgia
- United States 30332
- Building: EBB Krone Building
- Room Number: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Seminar Room
- Starts 15 May 2026 04:00 AM UTC
- Ends 26 May 2026 04:00 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Stuart Anderson of University of Adelaide
Biography:
Stuart J. Anderson received the B.Sc. (1st Class Honours) and Ph.D. (atomic physics) degrees in physics from the University of Western Australia in 1968 and 1972 respectively. As a student, he worked on the early Australian HF radar program in 1965-67. In 1974, he was invited to join the team being assembled in the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization to develop the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) system, where he assumed responsibility for designing and implementing the ocean surveillance and remote sensing capabilities. Between 1982 and 1987 he conducted many pioneering experiments with the Jindalee radar, establishing the world’s first operational OTHR ship detection capability and developing a daily oceanic wind mapping service which provided data to the Bureau of Meteorology from 1983 until 1995. In the 1980’s he spent a year at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, working as a visiting scientist on the US Navy Relocatable OTH Radar (ROTHR), and another year in the UK working on a related joint UK-US project. In 1998-99 he spent some months on attachment to the French OTHR project Nostradamus, and subsequently made extended visits to OTHR research groups in Russia and China. From 1995 he led the DSTO research programs in HF surface wave radar and in microwave radar polarimetry, in addition to continuing to extend the capabilities of skywave OTH radar through the development of advanced signal processing techniques and novel physics. Stuart retired from DSTO in 2014, taking up a position as Adjunct Professor in the Physics Department at the University of Adelaide, along with an appointment as Honorary Professor at University College London. He maintains a crowded overseas travel agenda, attending conferences, collaborating with researchers in universities and other institutions, and consulting to government agencies in Europe and elsewhere. Stuart was the recipient of the 1992 Australian Minister of Defence Science Award for Research Achievement, along with several other prizes and awards. In 2005 the Université Rennes I, France, awarded him the degree doctor honoris causa for his contributions to radar science. His active research interests today include topics in electromagnetics, oceanography, radiowave propagation, ionospheric physics, signal processing, inverse problems, artificial intelligence and nonlinear optimization, especially as they relate to HF radar. Stuart also maintains a deep, up-to-date knowledge of the history of HF radar development around the world and its implications for defence. He has published over 350 journal papers, conference papers, books, book chapters, and
Agenda
11:30 - Noon : Lunch
Noon - 1:00 : Technical Talk
Two physical locations will offer lunch at 11:30 AM. Please indicate in the RSVP menu options which site you will attend.
Midtown Atlanta (In-Person):
Georgia Tech EBB Krone Building, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Seminar Room
950 Atlantic Dr NW
Atlanta, GA 30332
Cobb County (In-Person simulcast):
GTRI Building 11, Rm 1026
2001 Dixie Avenue SE
Smyrna, Georgia 30080