Global Wave Spectra from SAR: System Design Considerations

Accurate forecasting of directional ocean wave spectra in an operational context has been a fond hope of wind-wave generation modelers for many years. Knowledge of the directional wave spectra, especially on global scales and in near-real time, would have clear advantages in both military and civilian ship guidance. Orbiting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides one of the very few potential methods for collecting global directional ocean wave spectra. Analysis of Seasat SAR data has shown that much new information is contained in the SAR-measured directional spectrum. Moreover, many of the Seasat SAR limitations may be a direct result of a sub-optimal choice of system parameters for the measurement of moving ocean waves.