Wave Height Estimation from SAR Imagery

This paper presents a method developed for estimating wave height from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery without prior assumption of noise distribution. It is based on two-dimenslonal ocean wave spectra retrieved from fully calibrated SAR images. Wen‘s spectrum was used as first-guess wave spectrum in the retrieval process. Comparison of the estimated wave height obtained by this method from two ERS-1 SAR subimages dated 23 July 1994 with in-situ measurements showed that the method works well.     

Depth inversion in coastal water based on SAR image of waves

Wave-number spectrum technique is proposed to retrieve coastal water depths by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar （SAR） image of waves. Based on the general dispersion relation of ocean waves the wavelength changes of a surface wave over varying water depths can be derived from SAR. Approaching the analysis of SAR images of waves and using the general dispersion relation of ocean waves, this indirect technique of remote sensing bathymetry has been applied to a coastal region of Xiapu in Fujian Province, China. Results show that this technique is suitable for the coastal waters especially for the near-shore regions with variable water depths.     

Parameterized first-guess spectrum method for retrieving directional spectrum of swell-dominated waves and huge waves from SAR images

A method to retrieve ocean wave spectra from SAR images, named Parameterized First-guess Spectrum Method (PFSM), was proposed after interpretation of the theory to ocean wave imaging and analysis of the drawbacks of the retrieving model generally used. In this method, with additional information and satellite parameters, the separating wave-number is first calculated to determine the maximum wave-number beyond which the linear relation can be used. The separating wave-number can be calculated using the additional information on wind velocity and parameters of SAR satellite. And then the SAR spectrum can be divided into SAR spectrum of wind wave and of swell according to the result of separating wave-number. The portion of SAR spectrum generated by wind wave, is used to search for the most suitable parameters of ocean wind wave spectrum, including propagation direction of ocean wave, phase speed of dominating wave and the angle spreading coefficient. The swell spectrum is acquired by directly inversing the linear relation of ocean wave spectrum to SAR spectrum given the portion of SAR spectrum generated by swell. We used the proposed method to retrieve the ocean wave spectrum from ERS-SAR data from the South China Sea and compared the result with altimeter data. The agreement indicates that the PFSM is reliable.     

A joint method to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra from SAR and wave spectrometer data

This paper proposes a joint method to simultaneously retrieve wave spectra at dif ferent scales from spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) and wave spectrometer data. The method combines the output from the two dif ferent sensors to overcome retrieval limitations that occur in some sea states. The wave spectrometer sensitivity coeffi cient is estimated using an ef fective signifi cant wave height(SWH), which is an average of SAR-derived and wave spectrometer-derived SWH. This averaging extends the area of the sea surface sampled by the nadir beam of the wave spectrometer to improve the accuracy of the estimated sensitivity coeffi cient in inhomogeneous sea states. Wave spectra are then retrieved from SAR data using wave spectrometer-derived spectra as fi rst guess spectra to complement the short waves lost in SAR data retrieval. In addition, the problem of 180° ambiguity in retrieved spectra is overcome using SAR imaginary cross spectra. Simulated data were used to validate the joint method. The simulations demonstrated that retrieved wave parameters, including SWH, peak wave length(PWL), and peak wave direction(PWD), agree well with reference parameters. Collocated data from ENVISAT advanced SAR(ASAR), the airborne wave spectrometer STORM, the PHAROS buoy, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting(ECMWF) were then used to verify the proposed method. Wave parameters retrieved from STORM and two ASAR images were compared to buoy and ECMWF wave data. Most of the retrieved parameters were comparable to reference parameters. The results of this study show that the proposed joint retrieval method could be a valuable complement to traditional methods used to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra, particularly in inhomogeneous sea states.     

Detection of ocean internal waves based on Faster R-CNN in SAR images

Ocean internal waves appear as irregular bright and dark stripes on synthetic aperture radar(SAR) remote sensing images. Ocean internal waves detection in SAR images consequently constituted a difficult and popular research topic. In this paper, ocean internal waves are detected in SAR images by employing the faster regions with convolutional neural network features(Faster R-CNN) framework; for this purpose, 888 internal wave samples are utilized to train the convolutional network and identify internal waves. The experimental results demonstrate a 94.78% recognition rate for internal waves, and the average detection speed is 0.22 s/image. In addition, the detection results of internal wave samples under dif ferent conditions are analyzed. This paper lays a foundation for detecting ocean internal waves using convolutional neural networks.     

Retrieval of Significant Wave Height Under Typhoon Conditions from Gaofen-3 SAR Imagery

The objective of this paper is to propose an empirical method to inverse significant wave height(SWH)under typhoon conditions from collected dual-polarization Gaofen(GF)-3 synthetic aperture radar(SAR)imagery.The typhoon scenes were cap-tured from narrow scan(NSC)and wide scan(WSC)images,and collocated with European Center for Medium-Range Weather Fore-casts reanalysis data of(ECMWF).To improve the quality of GF-3 SAR images,the recalibration over rainforest and de-scalloping were carried out.To establish the empirical relationship between SAR-derived parameters and collocated SWH,the sensitivity analysis of typical parameters about the normalized radar cross section(Nrcs)and imagery variance(Cvar)were performed to both VV and VH polarized images.Four scenes from GF-3 SAR imagery under typhoon conditions were used for training the model by the multivari-ate least square regression,and one scene was used for preliminary validation.It was found that the joint retrieval model based on VV and VH polarized SAR imagery performed better than any single polarized model.These results,verified by using ECMWF data,revealed the soundness of this approach,with a correlation of 0.95,bias of 0 m,RMSE of 0.44 and SI of 0.01 when VV polarization and VH polarization data were both used.     

Underwater topography detection of Taiwan Shoal with SAR images

Under suitable conditions of tidal current and wind, underwater topography can be detected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) indirectly. Underwater topography SAR imaging includes three physical processes: radar ocean surface backscattering, the modulation of sea surface short wave spectrum by the variations in sea surface currents, and the modulation of sea surface currents by the underwater topography. The first process is described usually by Bragg scattering theory because the incident angle of SAR is always between 20°–70°. The second process is described by the action balance equation. The third process is described by an ocean hydrodynamic model. Based on the SAR imaging mechanism for underwater topography, an underwater topography SAR detection model and a simplified method for its calculation are introduced. In the detection model, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model — the shallow water model is used to describe the motion of tidal current. Due to the difficulty of determining the expression of SAR backscattering cross section in which some terms can not be determined, the backscattering cross section of SAR image used in the underwater topography SAR detection is pro-processed by the simulated SAR image of the coarse-grid water depth to simplify the calculation. Taiwan Shoal, located at the southwest outlet of Taiwan Strait, is selected as an evaluation area for this technique due to the occurrence of hundreds of sand waves. The underwater topography of Taiwan Shoal was detected by two scenes of ERS-2 SAR images which were acquired on 9 January 2000 and 6 June 2004. The detection results are compared with in situ measured water depths for three profiles. The average absolute and relative errors of the best detection result are 2.23 m and 7.5 %, respectively. These show that the detection model and the simplified method introduced in the paper is feasible.     

A new modulation transfer function for ocean wave spectra retrieval from X-band marine radar imagery

When imaging ocean surface waves by X-band marine radar,the radar backscatter from the sea surface is modulated by the long surface gravity waves. The modulation transfer function(MTF) comprises tilt,hydrodynamic,and shadowing modulations. A conventional linear MTF was derived using HH-polarized radar observations under conditions of deep water. In this study,we propose a new quadratic polynomial MTF based on VV-polarized radar measurements taken from heterogeneous nearshore wave fields. This new MTF is obtained using a radar-observed image spectrum and in situ buoy-measured wave frequency spectrum. We validate the MTF by comparing peak and mean wave periods retrieved from X-band marine radar image sequences with those measured by the buoy. It is shown that the retrieval accuracies of peak and mean wave periods of the new MTF are better than the conventional MTF. The results also show that the bias and root mean square errors of the peak and mean wave periods of the new MTF are 0.05 and 0.88 s,and 0.32 and 0.53 s,respectively,while those of the conventional MTF are 0.61 and 0.98 s,and 1.39 and 1.48 s,respectively. Moreover,it is also shown that the retrieval results are insensitive to the coefficients in the proposed MTF.     

A new method for the estimation of oceanic mixed-layer depth using shipboard X-band radar images

Shipboard X-band radar images acquired on 24 June 2009 are used to study nonlinear internal wave characteristics in the northeastern South China Sea. The studied images show three nonlinear internal waves in a packet. A method based on the Radon Transform technique is introduced to calculate internal wave parameters such as the direction of propagation and internal wave velocity from backscatter images. Assuming that the ocean is a two-layer finite depth system, we can derive the mixed-layer depth by applying the internal wave velocity to the mixed-layer depth formula. Results show reasonably good agreement with in-situ thermistor chain and conductivity-temperature-depth data sets.     

A method for sea surface wind field retrieval from SAR image mode data

To retrieve wind field from SAR images, the development for surface wind field retrieval from SAR images based on the improvement of new inversion model is present. Geophysical Model Functions(GMFs) have been widely applied for wind field retrieval from SAR images. Among them CMOD4 has a good performance under low and moderate wind conditions. Although CMOD5 is developed recently with a more fundamental basis, it has ambiguity of wind speed and a shape gradient of normalized radar cross section under low wind speed condition. This study proposes a method of wind field retrieval from SAR image by combining CMOD5 and CMOD4 Five VV-polarisation RADARSAT2 SAR images are implemented for validation and the retrieval results by a combination method(CMOD5 and CMOD4) together with CMOD4 GMF are compared with QuikSCAT wind data. The root-mean-square error(RMSE) of wind speed is 0.75 m s-1 with correlation coefficient 0.84 using the combination method and the RMSE of wind speed is 1.01 m s-1 with correlation coefficient 0.72 using CMOD4 GMF alone for those cases. The proposed method can be applied to SAR image for avoiding the internal defect in CMOD5 under low wind speed condition.     

Depression and elevation internal solitary waves in a two-layer fluid and their forces on cylindrical piles

Both large amplitude depression and elevation internal solitary waves (ISWs) were observed on the continental shelf of the northwest South China Sea (SCS) during the Wenchang Internal Wave Experiment. In this study, we investigate the characteristics of depression and elevation ISWs based on comparisons between observational results and internal wave theories. It is suggested that the large amplitude depression wave is better represented by the extended Korteweg-de Vries (EKdV) theory than by the KdV model, whereas the large amplitude elevation wave is in better agreement with the KdV equation than with the EKdV theory. Wave-induced forces on a supposed small-diameter cylindrical pile by depression and elevation waves are also estimated using the internal wave theory and Morison formula. The wave-induced force by elevation ISWs is rarely reported in the literature. It is found that the force induced by the elevation wave differs significantly from that by the depression wave, and the elevation wave generally produces greater force on the pile in the lower water column than the depression wave. These results show that ISWs in the study area can present a serious threat to ocean engineering structures, and should not be ignored in the design of oil platforms and ocean operations.     

Contrast validation test for retrieval method of high frequency ground wave radar

1 INTRODUCTION Ocean wave and sea wind, are important oce-anic dynamic phenomena having great influence on the development of marine economy, exploitation of marine resources, and location selection, planning and designing, construction and operation of marine projects; so study on measuring methods of ocean wave and sea wind is important. High frequency ground wave radar (HF radar) was a technique developed in the last decades for the detection of oceanic environment. Long radio wave (mu…     

Deriving Changjiang coastal zone wind from C-band SAR and its application to salinity simulation

Wind plays an important role in hydrodynamic processes such as the expansion of Changjiang （Yangtze） River Diluted Water （CDW）, and shelf circulation in the Changjiang estuary. Thus, it is essential to include wind in the numerical simulation of these phenomena. Synthetic aperture radar （SAR） with high resolution and wide spatial coverage is valuable for measuring spatially inhomogeneous ocean surface wind fields. We have collected 87 ERS-2 SAR images with wind-induced streaks that cover the Cbangjiang coastal area, to verify and improve the validity of wind direction retrieval using the 2D fast Fourier transform method. We then used these wind directions as inputs to derive SAR wind speeds using the C-band model. To demonstrate the applicability of the algorithms, we validated the SAR-retrieved wind fields using QuikSCAT measurements and the atmospheric Weather Research Forecasting model. In general, we found good agreement between the datasets, indicating the reliability and applicability of SAR- retrieved algorithms under different atmospheric conditions. We investigated the main error sources of this process, and conducted sensitivity analyses to estimate the wind speed errors caused by the effect of speckle, uncertainties in wind direction, and inaccuracies in the normalized radar cross section. Finally, we used the SAR-retrieved wind fields to simulate the salinity distribution off the Changjiang estuary. The findings of this study will be valuable for wind resource assessment and the development of future numerical ocean models based on SAR images.     

基于功率谱获取海浪波长波向算法的改进

提出一种针对基于海浪图像功率谱获取海浪波长和波向的改进算法。算法首先假定海浪功率谱是一个密度不均匀的薄片平面,然后寻找其重心坐标,该坐标可等效为海浪主频位置,从而能够快速准确地得到海浪波长和波向。并经过大量的实验,验证该方法能够很好地解决基于二维傅里叶变换获取海浪图像波长、波向时主频不明显和大量频率分量没用上等缺点。     

A wave modulation model of ripples over long surface waves

A study is presented on the modulation of ripples induced by a long surface wave (LW) and a new theoretical modulation model is proposed. In this model, the wind surface stress modulation is related to the modulation of ripple spectrum. The model results show that in the case of LW propagating in the wind direction with the wave age parameter of LW increasing, the area with enhanced shear stress shifts from the region near the LW crest on the upwind slope to the LW trough. With a smaller wave age parameter of LW, the ripple modulation has the maximum on the upwind slope in the vicinity of LW crest, while with a larger parameter the enhancement of ripple spectrum does not occur in that region. At low winds the amplitude of ripple modulation transfer function (MTF) is larger in the gravity wave range, while at moderate or high winds it changes little in the range from short gravity waves to capillary waves.     

Rapid detection to long ship wake in synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery

The maritime administrative department employs synthetic aperture radar(SAR)satellite remote sensing technology to obtain evidence of illegal discharge of ships.If the ship is discharged during navigation,it forms a long dark wake on the SAR image due to the suppression of the Bragg wave by the oil film.This study investigates key techniques for rapid detection of long ship wakes,thereby providing law enforcement agencies with candidate ships for possible discharge.This paper presents a rapid long ship wake detection method that uses satellite imaging parameters and the axial direction of the ship in images to determine the potential detection area of the wake.Then,the threshold of long ship wake detection is determined using statistical analysis,the area is binarized,and isolated points are removed using a morphological filter operator.The method was tested with ENVISAT Synthetic Aperture Radar and GF-3 SAR data,and results showed that the method was effective,and the overall accuracy of the decision reaches 71%.We present two innovations;one is a method that draws a Doppler shift curve,and uses the SAR imaging parameters to determine the detection area of the long wake to achieve rapid detection and reduce the image detection area.The other is where a classical linear fitting method is used to quickly and accurately determine whether the detected dark area is a long ship wake and realizes the twisted long ship wake detection caused by the sea surface flow field,which is otherwise difficult to detect by the traditional Radon and Hough transform methods.This method has good suppression performance for the dark spot false alarm formed by low speed wind region or upward flow.The method is developed for maritime ship monitoring system and will promote the operational application of maritime ship monitoring system.     

Numerical simulation and validation of ocean waves measured by an Along-Track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar

A new nonlinear integral transform of ocean wave spectra into Along-Track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar （ATI-SAR） image spectra is described. ATI-SAR phase image spectra are calculated for various sea states and radar configurations based on the nonlinear integral transform. The numerical simulations show that the slant range to velocity ratio （R/V）, significant wave height to ocean wavelength ratio （Hi2）, the baseline （2B） and incident angle （0） affect ATI-SAR imaging. The ATI-SAR imaging theory is validated by means of Two X-band, HH-polarized ATI-SAR phase images of ocean waves and eight C-band, HH-polarized ATI-SAR phase image spectra of ocean waves. It is shown that ATI-SAR phase image spectra are in agreement with those calculated by forward mapping in situ directional wave spectra collected simultaneously with available ATI-SAR observations. ATI-SAR spectral correlation coefficients between observed and simulated are greater than 0.6 and are not sensitive to the degree of nonlinearity. However, the ATI-SARoPhase image spectral turns towards the range direction, even if the real ocean wave direction is 30. It is also shown that the ATI-SAR imaging mechanism is significantly affected by the degree of velocity bunching nonlinearity, especially for high values of R/V and H/2.     

Estimation of wave forces on large compliant platforms

Compliant offshore structures such as spars, tension leg platforms (TLPs) and semi-submersibles have been dramatically improved in recent years due to their capability for deep water operation. Waves are the most important environmental phenomenon affecting these offshore structures. Estimation of wave forces is vital in offshore structure design. For large compliant offshore plat-forms, Morrison's equation is not valid anymore and usually diffraction theory is used. In this research, by using the finite difference method, a detailed analysis of the first-order diffraction of monochromatic waves on a large cylinder as a structural element is per-formed to solve the radiation and diffraction potentials. The results showed that the developed model is a reliable tool to estimate the wave forces and hydrodynamic coefficients on large structure elements when wave diffraction and radiation are considered.     

Energy dissipation through wind-generated breaking waves

Wave breaking is an important process that controls turbulence properties and fluxes of heat and mass in the upper oceanic layer.A model is described for energy dissipation per unit area at the ocean surface attributed to wind-generated breaking waves,in terms of ratio of energy dissipation to energy input,windgenerated wave spectrum,and wave growth rate.Also advanced is a vertical distribution model of turbulent kinetic energy,based on an exponential distribution method.The result shows that energy dissipation rate depends heavily on wind speed and sea state.Our results agree well with predictions of previous works.     

基于光滑粒子流体动力学算法的海浪建模仿真研究

针对传统海浪建模方法中存在海洋表面真实感差、计算复杂的问题,本文进行了基于光滑粒子流体动力学算法（SPH）与移动立方体算法（MC）相结合的海浪建模仿真研究。通过基于空间网格的粒子分配,建立了粒子群单向列表存储结构,在海浪粒子物理量计算时,实现了其光滑核半径内粒子群的快速检索,并基于拉格朗日流体控制方程,进行了海浪粒子受力分析及状态计算;在模拟海浪与环境障碍物碰撞时,将碰撞问题简化为粒子在一定时间段内所经过的路径与障碍物表面三角面片是否相交来进行判定,并假设粒子为理想刚体,采用改进的欧拉方法实现了粒子新位置的动态计算;为增强海浪流体模拟的真实感,在移动立方体节点密度动态计算基础上,依据确定的海浪表面密度阈值,耦合MC算法进行了海浪表面的动态提取,从而实现了海浪三维表面建模与动态演变仿真。通过模拟验证了该算法的时效性与可行性,可为海洋环境信息三维可视化提供一定的参考。