Slope and hydrodynamic modulation of radar scatter from the sea

Microwave backscatter from the ocean surface is largely due to Bragg scattering from short surface ripples. Modulation of the signal results from changes in the local angle of incidence as the local slope changes, and from variations in Bragg ripple amplitude. The slope (tilt) modulation can be modeled as a memoryless nonlinear system. The hydrodynamic modulation results from a nonuniform distribution of the amplitude of the small-scale ripples over the large-scale waves. For azimuthally traveling waves the hydrodynamic modulation dominates, while for waves propagating in other directions, both tilt and hydrodynamic modulation are significant. The authors developed a 35-GHz radar vector slope gauge (VSG) to measure the orthogonal components of the surface slopes within the radar footprint. Simultaneous measurements of the surface slope and radar cross section permit determination of the relative contribution of slope and hydrodynamic modulations to the overall fluctuation of the radar signal. The authors present a method for separating effects due to the surface tilting from hydrodynamic effects. They include a sample result based on this approach with data from the SAXON-FPN experiment in November, 1990