Currents flowing away from the radar are colored green and blue. 1997 vector current maps in the Florida Straits . 1998 vector current maps in the Yucatan . Bifurcations and eddies in the western Caribbean reveal the influence of bottom topography. The color strips show 24 hours of ERS-1 scatterometer coverage over the North Atlantic.
Wind speed is color coded, with orange indicating highest speeds.
NOAA's tests with the Air Force and Navy radars have so far been for research and demonstration purposes only. Therefore, only archival data are available. The environmental monitoring aspects of the system are unclassified. Similar coverage in the eastern Pacific could be obtained at about the same cost. Other OTH radars in France, Australia, and Russia could be adapted to environmental monitoring.