Dynamics of Short Sea Wave Spectrum Estimated From Microwave Radiometric Measurements

This paper presents some results of the experiment CAPMOS´05 performed on an oceanographic research platform in the Black Sea. The platform, located 600 m offshore, was equipped with a set of contact and remote sensing instruments. Conventional contact sensors were used for direct measurements of atmosphere and sea boundary layer parameters (wind speed and direction, air temperature, water temperature and salinity profiles, etc.), whereas microwave and infrared band radiometers were used for remote sensing measurements of surface temperature and wave parameters. In particular, microwave Ka-band radiometer measurements were applied for gravity-capillary wave spectrum retrieval using the original techniques based on angular measurements. The spectrum component evolution under unstable wind conditions has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that the spectral components in the vicinity of the maximum of the wave curvature are the most sensitive to the wind-velocity variations.