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Disclaimer: These model results provide a scientific prediction of existing and future conditions. As with any forecast, however, accuracy cannot be guaranteed and caution is advised. While considerable effort has been made to implement all data components in a thorough, correct, and accurate manner, numerous sources of error are possible. The data are provided free of charge without warranty of any kind.

Disclaimer: These data were generated as part of an academic research project. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed and caution is advised. While considerable effort has been made to implement all data components in a thorough, correct, and accurate manner, numerous sources of error are possible. The data are provided free of charge without warranty of any kind.

Hourly data of the direction and speed of ocean surface currents are provided at a 1-km (0.6-mile) resolution for the Hilo Bay area on the windward (eastern) coast of Hawaiʻi Island in the State of Hawaiʻi. These velocity estimates are representative of the upper 0.3-2.5 m (1-8 ft) of the ocean. Shore-based high-frequency radios (HFR) antenna arrays consist of a low-power transmitter sending radio waves and receivers that listen for the signal reflected back from the ocean. The return signal is Doppler-shifted by waves, currents, and wind. Near real-time maps of surface currents are available across the coastal United States as part of the National HFRNet where hourly radial data are processed by unweighted least-squares onto a 1-km resolution grid. HFR data are configured and maintained for the Hilo region by Dr. Pierre Flament and lab of the Department of Oceanography in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

One of the instrument sites. Credit: PacIOOS/Ian Fernandez.

HFR data are released in compliance with real-time quality control standards. While considerable effort has been made to implement all data components in a thorough, correct, and accurate manner, numerous sources of error are possible. These data may help inform spill tracking, search and rescue, vessel routing and navigation, and forecast modeling. The data are provided free of charge without warranty of any kind.