Engineering Commons^™

Dominant Wave Directions And Significant Wave Heights From Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery Of The Ocean, Lisa M. Zurk, William J. Plant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We show that quasi-linear theory accounts for dominant wave directions observed in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery of the ocean for range-to-velocity (R/V) ratios up to 70 s. We also show that when used in combination with Alpers and Hasselmann's [1982] model of signal-to-noise ratios in SAR imagery, this theory yields significant wave heights in good agreement with those actually observed. We have found that the apparent dominant wave direction in SAR imagery taken at a 45° incidence angle can differ from the true wave direction by as much as 40° under certain conditions. To understand such differences, we simulated …