Amplitudes Estimation of Large Internal Solitary Waves in the Mid-Atlantic Bight Using Synthetic Aperture Radar and Marine X-Band Radar Images

The accurate estimation of internal solitary waves´ (ISWs´) amplitudes from radar images is important for understanding the ISW evolution, energy dissipation, and mixing processes. The in situ data from the Non-Linear Internal Wave Initiative experiment in the Mid-Atlantic Bight show many ISWs with amplitudes of 10 m or more in a shallow water depth of 80 m or less. Therefore, the higher order Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation in a two-layer system is needed to describe these large-amplitude ISWs instead of the classic KdV equation. Based on a simple theoretical radar imaging model, we develop a method to estimate large ISW amplitudes from distances between the positive and negative peaks of ISW signatures in radar images and a selection rule from the two possible amplitude solutions. Two groups of ISWs with large amplitudes, determined from the temperature records from nearby moorings, are observed in a RADARSAT synthetic-aperture-radar image and in marine X-band radar data collected during the experiment. We validate the method using the ISW signatures taken from these two cases. We find the estimated amplitudes to agree well with those determined from the moorings. The proposed method provides a relatively simple and accurate way to estimate large ISW amplitudes from radar images.