On the SAR imaging mechanisms of oceanic internal waves

The study of SAR imaging of oceanic internal waves involves the fields of hydrodynamics, radio wave scattering and the SAR imaging process. The present paper examines the weak hydrodynamic relaxation time approximation which is often used to predict the changes in the surface height spectrum, induced by internal waves. The corresponding backscatter radar cross section (RCS) is calculated and discussed using the Bragg and Kirchhoff scattering theory. Emphasis is placed on the directional dependence of the relaxation time and its effect on the spectral perturbation and RCS in different wavelengths ranging from X- to P-band