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 Figure 2: Canary Current and monitoring area of the HF Radar System in Casablanca and Temara.

 Figure 1: HF Radar antenna in Casablanca ! in thebackground, the Grande Mosquée Hassan II  ".

 Figure 3: Maritime tra # c along the Moroccan coast, a countwith a strong industrial and traditional fishery sector.

Morocco, known for its rich cultural heritage andbreathtaking natural landscapes, is also recognized asa reference in science and technology in Africa.

Confirming this idea, the Direction de la MétéorologieNationale (DMN) (http://www.marocmeteo.ma), a publicagency within the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water &Environment of the Kingdom of Morocco and also apermanent member of the World MeteorologicalOrganization, has made in April 2016 a relevant stepowards compliance with its mandate of providing

accurate and continuous marine weather and climatenformation. More specifically, it has made greatmprovements in 2D surface currents maps and wavedata by starting the kingdom’s first operational coastalHF radar ocean observing system which monitors themarine conditions up to 200 km from the coast (figure

2). 

The network has been installed by the Moroccan firmQualitas (http://www.qualitasenv.com). The first HFadar station has been implemented in Casablanca Portfigure 1), on top of the Met O"ce building having apectacular view of the sea and of the Grande

Mosquée Hassan II which is the tallest and the secondargest Mosque in the world. The second station is seton the premises of the Civil Protection in Temara (closeo Rabat) taking advantage of the uniquely compact

design of the chosen SeaSonde HF radar technology.

The new observing platform illuminates an area of largenterest to the Moroccan society and also to thenternational community for the unique oceanographicconditions and for the significant maritime tra"c in thearea (figure 3). The project shall be very beneficial tohe Kingdom of Morocco, primarily to all activitieselated to: 

Kingdom of Morocco Implementsits First HF Radar SystemContributed by Direction de la Météorologie Nationale, Kingdom of Morocco

#Protection of the marine and coastalenvironment. 

#Increased safety of navigation and e"ciency inmaritime rescues and various sea-related

operat ions such as oi l spi l l responsepreparedness. 

#Meteorological assistance for the better planningand conduct of port operations and in support ofa more acknowledged coastal management. 

#Better understanding of the marine physicalenvironment supporting the management offisheries resources and coastal engineering ingeneral 

#The further improvement of the existing currentsand waves nowcast and forecast.

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Special consideration has been paid byMaritime Department of the Met O"ce whenchoosing and implementing the newechnology to all activities that influence theong-term sustainability and short-term utilityof such a project. So for instance: 

For further information to the project contact: Mr. Hassan BOUKSIM Chef du Service de Météorologie Maritime Direction de la Météorologie Nationale BP 8106, Casa Oasis, Casablanca, Maroc Tél: (00 212) 522 65 49 20 Fax: (00 212) 522 91 36 98 

 Figure 4: 2D currents and wave data obtained by the HF Radar systin Morocco, between Casablanca and Temara.

 Figure 5: Morocco IT system scheme !  HF Radar stations, central platform and so $ ware utilities ".

Relevant system specifications:

•HF radar sensor: SeaSonde 4.438 to 4.488 MHz

•Data management platform: Combine Suite® +

PORTUS by Qualitas

•Range of 2D currents mapping: > 200 km

•Range of significant wave height: 1.5 to 20

 Figure 6: HF Radar training held in Casablanca during March 2016There were five !  5 " training courses oriented to management,

 administration, operation, maintenance and R&D.

#The highest quality, easiness of useand re l iabi l i ty of the chosentechnology.

#The implementation of the mostadvanced global QA/QC methods andsystem operation software tools (figure4) implemented into a versatileredundant IT platform (figure 5) with anadvanced architecture (2x1TB HDsoftware [mirroring] and 3x1TB HDdata [RAID5]). 

#The in-depth training and education(figure 6) of the department sta$  tofully assimilate all capabilities that are

needed to integrate the newobservational component with theother technologies and resources thatare at present in application at the MetO"ce.