2 August 2006
SeaSonde® Selected for Monitoring 2008
Olympic Games Sailing Event Race Area
China's State Oceanic Administration is installing what will arguably be the
most sophisticated environmental monitoring network for any sailing competition
race area. This network will feature a SeaSonde® system providing continuous,
real-time maps of ocean two-dimensional surface current flow patterns within
the Qingdao area, venue for the 2008 Olympic sailing competition. The SeaSonde
system will be installed late 2006 with data collected in advance of race events
as well as during the regatta itself. Data from the SeaSonde and other satellite
and in-situ environmental sensors will be assimilated into a numerical circulation
model, whose outputs will be provided to the Chinese Olympic Committee and Marine
Forecasting Observatory of Shangdong Province.
Qingdao, a beautiful coastal city in China's eastern Shandong province, has a
history of typically light winds during the summer months. In the event of light
wind conditions, utilizing the ocean current information for race boat strategy
(namely setting lay lines) may be of increased importance. The SeaSonde is the
best technology for quantifying fine-scale current flow patterns and this will
be its first application in racing.
The SeaSonde is manufactured by CODAR Ocean Sensors of Mountain View, California.
Hardware and software design that have been continually improved upon over the
last 30 years allows the SeaSonde robust field performance and user-friendly
software with high quality data output. The SeaSonde is both convenient and affordable
for a wide variety of users and applications. Staff at CODAR Ocean Sensors are
the world’s experts in HF radar theory and system design and have produced
approximately 80% of all HF radars ever built worldwide for ocean monitoring.
Laurel Technologies Company Ltd. is the local China representative for CODAR
Ocean Sensors. The appropriate point of contact is Professor Huiyong Lin, phone
+86 (010) 5879-0099, or send e-mail to laurel@laureltech.com.cn.
For further information, contact Laura Pederson of CODAR Ocean Sensors, at or
phone (408) 773-8240 x15.
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