Studies of dual polarized low grazing angle radar sea scatter in nearshore regions

Reports on experiments featuring horizontally (HH) and vertically (VV) polarized X-band marine radar sea scatter imagery in the coastal environments of Bermuda and La Jolla, under light to moderate winds and the absence of long gravity waves. These conditions allowed the study of fundamental scattering mechanisms from small scale roughness and short waves of a few meters wavelength or less, shorter than the radar pulse. While a large fraction of radar data collected revealed the presence of slick bands, the authors analyze the radar echo of ambient background outside of the slicks. Sea scatter data were digitally recorded for 360° azimuthal coverage for grazing angles between 1-3.5°, and were converted to normalized radar cross section (NRCS or σ°) images. The HH and VV polarizations show quite different spatial texture, with HH exhibiting a discrete character and VV being more nearly spatially homogeneous. Grazing angle dependencies are different for HH and VV: upwind-downwind differences of mean NRCS show ratios of just 4-6 dB for VV, but are equal or greater than the 16-dB noise-imposed limit for HH for the low wind conditions. HH NRCS grazing angle characteristics are shown to correlate with biological activity indicators of the coastal waters, with a fourth power dependence in relatively unproductive waters, to a nearly quadratic in productive waters. Arguments are presented that suggest different scattering mechanisms for the two polarizations: evenly distributed Bragg scatter patches for VV and scatter from small asymmetric bore features for HH. A multipath illumination model for small bore features is outlined, and scale sizes for the small scale breakers inferred from the experimental results presented are between 2 and 4 cm in height, with crest widths between 24 and 48 cm