Theory And Practice Of Ocean Wave Measurement By Synthetic Aperture Radar

Remote sensing of ocean waves by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has reached a stage where measurement of many gross wave characteristics, such as dominant wavelength and direction, is well established. A significant difficulty is that waves traveling nearly along the radar surface track direction are often not imaged. Although progress is being mode, remote sensing of significant waveheight and the directional waveheight spectrum is still not on a firm footing. Understanding the physics behind SAR imaging of ocean waves will help reduce systematic errors in the wave measurements and put SAR wave measurement technique on a solid basis. At present there are several candidate formulations for a SAR wave imaging theory. Hypotheses drawn from these candidates are now being tested to resolve contradictions and point the way to a reliable theory.