Evaluation of ENVISAT ASAR data for sea surface wind retrieval in Hong Kong coastal waters of China

The C-band wind speed retrieval models, CMOD4, CMOD - IFR2, and CMOD5 were applied to retrieval of sea surface wind speeds from ENVISAT （European environmental satellite） ASAR （advanced synthetic aperture radar） data in the coastal waters near Hong Kong during a period from October 2005 to July 2007. The retrieved wind speeds are evaluated by comparing with buoy measurements and the QuikSCAT （quick scatterometer） wind products. The results show that the CMOD4 model gives the best performance at wind speeds lower than 15 m/s. The correlation coefficients with buoy and QuikSCAT winds are 0.781 and 0.896, respectively. The root mean square errors are the same 1.74 m/s. Namely, the CMOD4 model is the best one for sea surface wind speed retrieval from ASAR data in the coastal waters near Hong Kong.     

An analysis of the radar backscatter from oil-covered sea surfaces using moment method and Monte-Carlo simulation: preliminary results

An analysis of the radar backscattering from the ocean surface covered by oil spill is presented using a microwave scattering model and Monte-Carlo simulation. In the analysis, a one-dimensional rough sea surface is numerically generated with an ocean waveheight spectrum for a given wind velocity. A two-layered medium is then generated by adding a thin oil layer on the simulated rough sea surface. The electric fields backscattered from the sea surface with two-layered medium are computed with the method of moments (MoM), and the backscattering coefficients are statistically obtained with N independent samples for each oil-spilled surface using the Monte-Carlo technique for various conditions of surface roughness, oil-layer thickness, frequency, polarization and incidence angle. The numerical simulation results are compared with theoretical models for clean sea surfaces and SAR images of an oil-spilled sea surface caused by the Hebei (Hebei province, China) Spirit oil tanker in 2007. Further, conditions for better oil spill extraction are sought by the numerical simulation on the effects of wind speed and oil-layer thickness at different incidence angles on the backscattering coefficients.     

利用一种改进的算法对中国高分三号同极化SAR图像反演的有效波高的验证

Chinese Gaofen-3(GF-3) is the first civilian satellite to carry C-band(5.3 GHz) synthetic aperture radar(SAR).During the period of August 2016 to December 2017, 1 523 GF-3 SAR images acquired in quad-polarization(vertical-vertical(VV), horizontal-horizontal(HH), vertical-horizontal(VH), and horizontal-vertical(HV)) mode were recorded, mostly around China's seas. In our previous study, the root mean square error(RMSE) of significant wave height(SWH) was found to be around 0.58 m when compared with retrieval results from a few GF-3 SAR images in co-polarization(VV and HH) with moored measurements by using an empirical algorithm CSAR_WAVE. We collected a number of sub-scenes from these 1 523 images in the co-polarization channel,which were collocated with wind and SWH data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) reanalysis field at a 0.125° grid. Through the collected dataset, an improved empirical wave retrieval algorithm for GF-3 SAR in co-polarization was tuned, herein denoted as CSAR_WAVE2. An additional 92 GF-3 SAR images were implemented in order to validate CSAR_WAVE2 against SWH from altimeter Jason-2, showing an about 0.52 m RMSE of SWH for co-polarization GF-3 SAR. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed empirical algorithm has a good performance for wave retrieval from GF-3 SAR images in co-polarization.     

东海沿海季节性海平面异常成因

Based on the analysis of sea level, air temperature, sea surface temperature(SST), air pressure and wind data during 1980–2013, the causes of seasonal sea level anomalies in the coastal region of the East China Sea(ECS) are investigated. The research results show:(1) sea level along the coastal region of the ECS takes on strong seasonal variation. The annual range is 30–45 cm, larger in the north than in the south. From north to south, the phase of sea level changes from 140° to 231°, with a difference of nearly 3 months.(2) Monthly mean sea level(MSL)anomalies often occur from August to next February along the coast region of the ECS. The number of sea level anomalies is at most from January to February and from August to October, showing a growing trend in recent years.(3) Anomalous wind field is an important factor to affect the sea level variation in the coastal region of the ECS. Monthly MSL anomaly is closely related to wind field anomaly and air pressure field anomaly. Wind-driven current is essentially consistent with sea surface height. In August 2012, the sea surface heights at the coastal stations driven by wind field have contributed 50%–80% of MSL anomalies.(4) The annual variations for sea level,SST and air temperature along the coastal region of the ECS are mainly caused by solar radiation with a period of12 months. But the correlation coefficients of sea level anomalies with SST anomalies and air temperature anomalies are all less than 0.1.(5) Seasonal sea level variations contain the long-term trends and all kinds of periodic changes. Sea level oscillations vary in different seasons in the coastal region of the ECS. In winter and spring, the oscillation of 4–7 a related to El Ni?o is stronger and its amplitude exceeds 2 cm. In summer and autumn, the oscillations of 2–3 a and quasi 9 a are most significant, and their amplitudes also exceed 2 cm. The height of sea level is lifted up when the different oscillations superposed. On the other hand, the height of sea level is fallen down.     

使用参数化初猜测谱算法提取VV极化Sentinel-1 SAR图像的海浪要素并与ECMWF再分析数据以及浮标数据进行验证对比

The purpose is to study the accuracy of ocean wave parameters retrieved from C-band VV-polarization Sentinel-1Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) images, including both significant wave height(SWH) and mean wave period(MWP), which are both calculated from a SAR-derived wave spectrum. The wind direction from in situ buoys is used and then the wind speed is retrieved by using a new C-band geophysical model function(GMF) model,denoted as C-SARMOD. Continuously, an algorithm parameterized first-guess spectra method(PFSM) is employed to retrieve the SWH and the MWP by using the SAR-derived wind speed. Forty–five VV-polarization Sentinel-1 SAR images are collected, which cover the in situ buoys around US coastal waters. A total of 52 subscenes are selected from those images. The retrieval results are compared with the measurements from in situ buoys. The comparison performs good for a wind retrieval, showing a 1.6 m/s standard deviation(STD) of the wind speed, while a 0.54 m STD of the SWH and a 2.14 s STD of the MWP are exhibited with an acceptable error.Additional 50 images taken in China's seas were also implemented by using the algorithm PFSM, showing a 0.67 m STD of the SWH and a 2.21 s STD of the MWP compared with European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) reanalysis grids wave data. The results indicate that the algorithm PFSM works for the wave retrieval from VV-polarization Sentinel-1 SAR image through SAR-derived wind speed by using the new GMF C-SARMOD.     

Ocean wave parameters retrieved directly from compact polarimetric SAR data

We aim to directly invert wave parameters by using the data of a compact polarimetric synthetic aperture radar(CP SAR) and validate the effectiveness of ocean wave parameter retrieval from the circular transmit/linear receive mode and π/4 compact polarimetric mode. Relevant data from the RADARSAT-2 fully polarimetric SAR on the C-band were used to obtain the compact polarimetric SAR images, and a polarimetric SAR wave retrieval algorithm was used to verify the sea surface wave measurements. Usin...     

星载激光雷达卫星海面风场反演算法研究

The principal purpose of this paper is to extract entire sea surface wind＇s information from spaceborne lidar, and particularly to utilize a appropriate algorithm for removing the interference information due to white caps and subsurface water. Wind speeds are obtained through empirical relationship with sea surface mean square slopes. Wind directions are derived from relationship between wind speeds and wind directions im plied in CMOD5n geophysical models function （GMF）. Whitecaps backscattering signals were distinguished with the help of lidar depolarization ratio measurements and rectified by whitecaps coverage equation. Subsurface water backscattering signals were corrected by means of inverse distance weighted （IDW） from neighborhood non-singular data with optimal subsurface water backscattering calibration parameters. To verify the algorithm reliably, it selected NDBC＇s TAO buoy-laying area as survey region in camparison with buoys＇ wind field data and METOP satellite ASCAT of 25 km single orbit wind field data after temporal-spa tial matching. Validation results showed that the retrieval algorithm works well in terms of root mean square error （RMSE） less than 2m/s and wind direction＇s RMSE less than 21 degree.     

Atmospheric frontal gravity waves observed in satellite SAR images of the Bohai Sea and Huanghai Sea

In the satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the Bohai Sea and Huanghai Sea, the authors observe sea surface imprints of wave-like patterns with an average wavelength of 3.8 km. Comparing SAR observations with sea surface wind fields and surface weather maps, the authors find that the occurrence of the wave-like phenomena is associated with the passing of atmospheric front. The authors define the waves as atmospheric frontal gravity waves. The dynamical parameters of the wave packets are derived from statistics of 9 satellite SAR images obtained from 2002 to 2008. A two-dimensional linear physical wave model is used to analyze the generation mechanism of the waves. The atmospheric frontal wave induced wind variation across the frontal wave packet is compared with wind retrievals from the SAR images. The CMOD-5 (C-band scatterometer ocean geophysical model function) is used for SAR wind retrievals VV (transmitted vertical and received vertical) for ENVISAT and HH (transmitted horizontally and received horizontally) for RADARSAT-1. A reasonable agreement between the analytical solution and the SAR observation is reached. This new SAR frontal wave observation adds to the school of SAR observations of sea surface imprints of AGWs including island lee waves, coastal lee waves, and upstream Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGW).     

Examination of wind-wave interaction source term in WAVEWATCH III with tropical cyclone wind forcing

Results of drag coefficient(CD) from field observations and laboratory wave tank experiments indicate that the operational wave model can overestimate wind energy input under high wind conditions. The wind-wave interaction source term in WAVEWATCH Ⅲ has been modified to examine its behavior with tropical cyclone wind forcing. Using high resolution wind input,numerical experiments under idealized wind field and tropical cyclone Bonnie(1998) were designed to evaluate performance of the modified models. Both experiments indicate that the modified models with reduced CD significantly decrease wind energy input into the wave model and then simulate lower significant wave height(SWH) than the original model. However,the effects on spatial distribution of SWH,mean wavelength,mean wave direction,and directional wave spectra are insignificant. Due to the reduced wind energy input,the idealized experiment shows that the modified models simulate lower SWH than the original model in all four quadrants. The decrease in the front quadrants is significantly larger than that in the rear quadrants;it is larger under higher winds than lower winds. The realistic experiment on tropical cyclone Bonnie shows that the modified model with the various downward trends of CD in high winds creates a simulation that agrees best with scanning radar altimeter observations.     

多极化SAR溢油探测影响因素分析研究

Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar(SAR) oil spill detection parameters conformity coefficient(μ), Muller matrix parameters(|C|, B_0), the eigenvalues of simplified coherency matrix(λ_(nos)) and the influence of SAR observing parameters, ocean environment and noise level are investigated. Radarsat-2 data are used to make systematic analysis of polarimetric parameters for different incidences, wind speeds, noise levels and the ocean phenomena(oil slick and look likes). The influence of the SAR observing parameters, the ocean environment and the noise level on the typical polarimetric SAR parameter conformity coefficient has been analyzed. The results indicate that conformity coefficient cannot be simply used for oil spill detection, which represents the image signal to the noise level to some extent. When the signals are below the noise level for the oil slick and the look likes, the conformity coefficients are negative; while the signals above the noise level corresponds to positive conformity coefficients. For dark patches(low wind and biogenic slick) with the signal below the noise,polarization features such as conformity coefficient cannot separate them with oil slick. For the signal above the noise, the oil slick, the look likes(low wind and biogenic slick) and clean sea all have positive conformity coefficients, among which, the oil slick has the smallest conformity coefficient, the look likes the second, and the clean sea the largest value. For polarimetric SAR data oil spill detection, the noise plays a significant role. So the polarimetric SAR data oil spill detection should be carried out on the basis of noise consideration.     

雷达波段对多极化SAR海面溢油检测极化特征参数的影响

多极化SAR数据海面溢油检测研究日益受到重视。本文研究不同波段极化SAR数据的海面溢油检测能力，为最大程度减小观测条件、环境因素等的影响，选取准同步获取的SIR-C/X多极化SAR数据。针对海面油膜、生物油膜和低风区疑似溢油现象，研究L波段和C波段的共极化相位差、一致性系数、极化熵、各向异性和平均散射角等极化特征对海面油膜以及不同海面暗斑现象的检测能力。研究结果表明:在海面溢油检测以及探测不同暗斑现象间差异方面，C波段总体优于L波段；L波段，极化分解特征各向异性参数优于共极化相位差和一致性系数；C波段，共极化相位差、一致性系数特征优于极化分解特征各向异性和极化熵，结合平均散射角特征有助于滤除生物油膜和低风区。     

WindSat近海岸风场与美国沿岸浮标对比分析

利用美国近海岸2004-2014年的固定浮标数据,本文对比分析了WindSat的近海岸风速产品。匹配时空窗口分别为30分钟和25公里。对比分析结果表明：WindSat反演的美国近海岸风速产品的均方根误差优于1.44 m/s,并且东海岸风速反演结果优于西海岸。WindSat下降轨道的风速反演结果优于上升轨道的结果。通过浮标相互间的对比分析发现,WindSat近海岸的风速反演结果与近岸海水深度、经度及距岸距离等因素并无明显的相关性。此外,利用2007-2008年的固定浮标数据,本文还对比分析了WindSat和QuikSCAT的近海岸风速反演结果,结果表明：相对于浮标数据,WindSat的风速反演值偏低,而QuikSCAT的风速反演值偏高;总体上来看,WindSat的近岸风速反演结果略优于QuikSCAT的近海岸风速反演结果。以上风速反演的精度均达到了传感器设定的指标,其为进一步的科学研究提供了良好的数据支撑。     

全极化SAR图像中溢油极化特征研究

相比于单极化SAR图像,全极化SAR图像不仅能体现海面目标的几何特征、后向散射特征,还能体现目标的极化特征。因此,在溢油检测方面,极化SAR更具优势。特征提取作为溢油检测的关键步骤,直接影响到溢油检测的精度。在本文中,我们分析了全极化SAR图像中海面溢油的极化特征,如极化散射熵、平均散射角等。并提出了新的极化特征P,该特征参数能够反映海面目标电磁散射过程中布拉格散射机制和镜面散射机制的比例。为了研究极化特征溢油检测的能力,本文基于SIR-C/X-SAR和Radarsat-2全极化SAR图像开展了相关实验,并对比分析了溢油的多种极化特征。实验结果显示,在中低风速情况下,C波段溢油探测效果优于L波段;本文提出的极化特征P对海面散射机制敏感;基准高度和特征参数P在C波段比其他极化特征更适于溢油检测。     

中法海洋卫星散射计近海岸海面风场反演研究

中法海洋卫星散射计(CSCAT)使用扇形波束旋转扫描体制,能够以多角度测量同一海面的雷达后向散射系数,并具有空间分辨率较高的特点。这为近海岸海面风场反演提供了新的机遇。本文介绍了CSCAT近海岸海面风场处理的主要流程和关键技术。特别地,在风场反演之前,利用一种矩形窗算术平均的方法将L1B级的高分辨率条带数据组合平均到相应的风矢量单元中,从而实现近海岸风场反演的快速预处理。通过对比CSCAT、欧洲先进散射计(ASCAT)以及美国QuikSCAT的近海岸风场,发现CSCAT风场的质量在离岸40 km以外区域具有良好的一致性,而在离岸40 km以内显著恶化。分析表明,CSCAT近海岸区域风场统计特征恶化的原因可能是由潜在的海冰污染引起的。总体而言,CSCAT的近海岸风场与模式背景风场和浮标风场都具有良好的一致性。     

Nonlinear influences on ocean waves observed by X-band radar

The purpose of this study is to discuss the influence of signal nonlinearity upon X-band radar observations. A method for estimating the degree of nonlinearity by bispectral analysis was applied and discussed. We found that bispectral analyses from spatial radar backscatter series are similar to results obtained from water level time series. In addition, the average nonlinear degree from radar backscatter is related to wind speed. The accuracy of wave observations derived by consideration of the nonlinear effect from radar backscatter was also investigated. The estimated error in wave height from the radar data is also related to the degree of nonlinearity. In order to improve accuracy, the modulation transfer function method was applied in order to eliminate the influence of nonlinearity.     

Shallow sea topography detection using fully polarimetric Gaofen-3 SAR data based on swell patterns

Compared to single-polarization synthetic aperture radar(SAR) data, fully polarimetric SAR data can provide more detailed information of the sea surface, which is important for applications such as shallow sea topography detection. The Gaofen-3 satellite provides abundant polarimetric SAR data for ocean research. In this paper, a shallow sea topography detection method was proposed based on fully polarimetric Gaofen-3 SAR data. This method considers swell patterns and only requires SAR data and ...     

基于C-2PO模型和CMOD5.N地球物理模式函数的SAR风速反演性能评估

本文选取142幅RADARSAT-2全极化合成孔径雷达（SAR）影像，在没有入射角输入的情况下，首先利用C-2PO模型进行海面风速反演。随后，将同一时空下的ASCAT散射计风向作为初始风向，提取相应雷达入射角，利用地球物理模式函数（GMF） CMOD5.N对142幅SAR影像进行风速计算。反演结果与美国国家资料浮标中心海洋浮标风速数据对比，结果显示:CMOD5.N GMF和C-2PO模型均可反演出较高精确度的海面风速，其均方根误差分别为1.68 m/s和1.74 m/s。此外，研究发现，在低风速段，CMOD5.N GMF的风速反演精度要明显优于C-2PO模型。针对这一现象，本文以SAR系统成像机理为基础，以低风速SAR图像为具体案例，给出了3种造成这一现象的原因。     

复合雷达后向散射模型与合成孔径雷达、散射计和高度计海面雷达后向散射观测的比较分析

海洋微波散射模型相比于以经验统计建立的地球物理模式函数具有不受特定微波频率限制的优势。组合布拉格散射模型和几何光学模型形成了复合雷达后向散射模型。利用南海北部气象浮标2014年海面风速风向实测值作为散射模型输入，分别比较了复合雷达后向散射模型与RADARSAT-2卫星C波段SAR、HY-2A卫星Ku波段微波散射计的海面后向散射系数，偏差分别为(?0.22±1.88) dB (SAR)、(0.33±2.71) dB (散射计VV极化）和(?1.35±2.88) dB (散射计HH极化)；以美国浮标数据中心(NDBC)浮标2011年10月1日至2014年9月30日共3年的海面风速、风向实测值作为散射模型输入，分别比较了复合雷达后向散射模型与Jason-2、HY-2A卫星Ku波段高度计海面后向散射系数，偏差分别为(1.01±1.15) dB和(1.12±1.29) dB。中等入射角和垂直入射下的卫星传感器后向散射系数观测值与复合雷达后向散射模型模拟值比较，具有不同的偏差，但具有相同的海面风速检验精度，均方根误差小于1.71 m/s。结果表明，复合雷达后向散射模型可模拟计算星载SAR、散射计和高度计观测条件下的海面雷达后向散射系数，且与CMOD5、NSCAT-2、高度计业务化海面风速反演的地球物理模式函数的计算结果具有一致性；复合雷达后向散射模型可用于微波遥感器的定标与检验、海面雷达后向散射的模拟。