Metal poles poping up along Florida beach dunes helping to read ocean currents

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - New technology is being installed to track ocean currents on the Space Coast.

The metal poles are hidden in the dunes and easy to miss along the beach walk at Hightower Park. Dr. Steven Lazarus is a Florida Tech meteorology professor and is the one leading the way on the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) project.

The new equipment isn’t a camera like people some have asked, but it is technology Lazarus and other local researchers will use."What these radars measure are currents moving away or toward the radar," Lazarus said about the project.

Being able to read and understand the current in the ocean has a lot of safety benefits for boaters."If they’re drifting, then we can in theory better pinpoint where they went and where they’re heading," he said.

Four transmitters, located in one area of the dune, will send out a signal about 50 miles away from shore to read the current in the ocean. That data is then transmitted to 12 different receivers before popping up on a computer which will be stored in a nearby shed.

"That backscatter signal from the transmitter basically tells you something about the flow of the surface water towards or away from the antenna," Lazarus said. 

The radar will also give insight into when seaweed is coming to shore, and it will help with rocket launches. 

"Folks can actually put the current data that comes from the radars into a model and try to forecast movement of the sargassum," he added. "Booster rocket recovery right – if it falls into the water, where is it going to drift?"

The system in Brevard County is paired with another in Indian River County which is crucial for the radars to work.

"That sweet spot, you can get current information," Lazarus concluded. "You have to have both radars."

Installation is expected to finish next month, and the data from the radars will be available for the public to access on their own.