Early applications of dynamical systems theory to understand transport utilized 
simple analytic functions to describe the velocity field. More recent 
applications, such as the one described here, rely instead on large amounts of 
high-resolution synoptic data obtained through remote sensing. We briefly 
describe the dynamical systems framework for Lagrangian transport, but the focus 
will be on transport in a coastal system (i.e., Monterey Bay) using a velocity 
field obtained from high frequency (HF) radar measurements. In particular, we 
study the surface velocity of Monterey Bay obtained from three HF radar antennae 
at Santa Cruz, Moss Landing and Point Pinos. The surface currents of Monterey 
Bay are obtained at spatial intervals of approximately 2 km and temporal 
intervals of approximately 2 hours by interpreting the resonant backscatter in 
the spectral returns for transmitted frequencies from the HF radar antenna. We 
will show how dynamical systems theory applies to this data and gives new 
insight into transport and predictability of transport processes in a coastal 
system.