Canadian Coast Guard Installs CODAR SeaSondes in SW Nova
Release Date: 3 December 2007

The Canadian Coast Guard has installed two CODAR SeaSondes in southwestern Nova Scotia, in support of its regional search and rescue operations. Installation was completed in late October and included one long-range unit at Clarke's Harbour and another at West Head, Lockeport. SeaSondes provide wide-area maps of sea-surface currents, which are required by the Coast Guard during search and rescue operations.

The two Coast Guard SeaSondes will operate in a networked configuration with another SeaSonde operated by the University of Maine at Orono, USA. The University of Maine unit has been in operation at Cape St. Mary's on an experimental basis since January 2004. This co-operative approach allows both operators to function on the same transmission frequency. U. Maine also operates CODAR SeaSondes along the coast of Maine.

Surface Current information derived from the University of Maine SeaSondes is publicly available through a Web site operated by the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GOMOOS), of which OEA Technologies Inc. is a member. The Canadian Coast Guard also plans to make its surface current data publically available once it has completed its system initialization process.

Other participants in the project included the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and the Canadian Forces. Financial support for the Coast Guard SeaSondes was provided by the Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund (SAR NIF)