Simulation of interferometric synthetic aperture radar imaging of two-dimensional ocean surface wave fields

An interferometric synthetic aperture radar (INSAR) is capable of measuring ocean surface waves and surface currents. An INSAR velocity bunching model is derived which includes the radar cross section modulation and the velocity bunching modulation, as well as the velocity spread within the SAR resolution cell (parameterized by a scene coherence time). The authors simulate INSAR images of two-dimensional ocean wave fields by using the Monte-Carlo method, from which the INSAR amplitude and phase image spectra are calculated. It is shown that the INSAR phase image spectrum is almost independent of the radar cross section modulation, while the conventional SAR image spectra are more strongly affected by the interference of the radar cross section and the velocity bunching modulations. The authors find that the scene coherence time and the distance between the two antennas are the limiting parameters for imaging of ocean waves by INSAR.