Synthetic aperture radar imaging of ocean waves during the marineland experiment

X- andL-band simultaneously obtained synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data of ocean gravity waves collected during the Marineland Experiment were analyzed using wave contrast measurements. The Marineland data collected in 1975 represents a unique historical data set for testing still-evolving theoretical models of the SAR ocean wave imaging process. The wave contrast measurements referred to are direct measurements of the backscatter variation between wave crests and troughs. These modulation depth measurements, which are indicators of wave detectability, were made as a function of: a) the settings used in processing the SAR signal histories to partially account for wave motion; b) wave propagation direction with respect to radar look direction for bothX- andL-band SAR data; c) SAR resolution; and d) number of coherent looks. The contrast measurements indicated that ocean waves imaged by a SAR are most discernible whenX-band frequency is used (as compared toL-band), and when the ocean waves are traveling in the range direction. Ocean waves can be detected by bothX- andL-band SAR, provided that the radar surface resolution is small compared to the ocean wavelength (at least 1/4 of the ocean wavelength is indicated by this work). Finally, wave detection withL-band SAR can be improved by adjusting the focal distance and rotation of the cylindrical telescope in the SAR optical processor to account for wave motion. The latter adjustments are found to be proportional to a value that is near the wave phase velocity.     

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).     

Wave orbital velocity, fade, and SAR response to azimuth waves

Orbital motion of azimuth waves imposes differential Doppler shifts on wave imagery as seen by a SAR. This paper shows that these Doppler shifts are a function only of the wave and sensor geometry, and are not a function of SAR parameters. The azimuth wave reflectivity so modulated is equivalent to a redistributed scatterer density which can be used as an input with the SAR modulation transfer function for general distributed scenes to derive the azimuth wave image. The static scatterer density is calculated for a variety of sea states. Wave accelerations are not of first-order importance. Scatterer fade (decorrelation) is of central importance, as it impacts the SAR transfer function that is effective in wave imaging.     

Estimates of ocean wavelength and direction from X-and L-band synthetic aperture radar data collected during the Marineland experiment

Simultaneously obtainedX- andL-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collected during the Marineland Experiment were spectrally analyzed by fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques to estimate ocean wavelength and direction. An eight-sided flight pattern was flown over the same ocean area in order to study the sensitivity of the spectral estimate on radar look direction. These spectral estimates were compared with in situ wave measurements made by a pitch-and-roll buoy. The comparison revealed that theX-band SAR detected all gravity waves independent of radar look direction, while theL-band SAR detected all range-traveling gravity waves but failed to detect waves in three of four cases in which the waves were traveling within 25° of the azimuth direction. The analysis also indicates that azimuth-traveling waves appear longer and more range-traveling in the SAR imagery than observed by in situ instrumentation. It is postulated that degraded azimuth resolution due to scatterer motion is responsible for these observations.     

浅海水下地形的SAR遥感仿真研究

结合连续性方程和布拉格后向散射模型,在准一维简化浅海水下地形情况下,建立了浅海水下地形SAR海面相对后向散射强度仿真模型,将浅海水下地形区域的SAR海面后向散射强度的相对变化与大尺度背景流场、海面风场和雷达系统参数等联系起来.海上实验和研究结果表明,浅海水下地形的SAR成像主要由通过受水下地形影响的海表层流场对海表面风引起的微尺度波的水动力调制而获取浅海水下地形信息,其中潮流与水下地形的相互作用过程改变海表层流场,变化的海表层流与海表面微尺度波之间的相互作用改变海表面波的空间分布,雷达波与海表面波之间的相互作用决定雷达海面后向散射强度.因此SAR图像中浅海水下地形或水深信息量的多少不仅与海表层流场和海面风速有关,而且与雷达工作波段、雷达波束入射角和极化方式也密切相关.认为由水下地形变化引起的缓慢变化的表层流场中海表面定常微尺度波谱能量密度的变化满足波作用量谱平衡方程;而在波数空间中,海表面微尺度波谱的成长过程也可以用波数谱平衡方程描述,在此基础上,得出了海表面波高频谱(毛细-重力波)形式的解析表达式.众所周知,浅海水下地形信息是由于水下地形影响下SAR海面后向散射强度与背景海面后向散射强度的相对差异而在SAR图像上的呈现,从而在建立浅海水下地形SAR海面相对后向散射强度仿真模型的基础上,仿真计算了浅海水下地形SAR海面相对后向散射强度相对于海表层流场、海面风场等海况参数和SAR工作波段、SAR波束入射角、极化方式等雷达系统参数的数值仿真结果,分析得到了有关浅海水下地形SAR海面相对后向散射强度的特征和SAR浅海水下地形遥感的最佳海况参数与最佳雷达系统参数,为研究和开展SAR浅海水下地形遥感研究提供了有价值的参考.     

Modification of SAR spectra associated with surface wind fields in the sea off the Kii Peninsula: A case study

Using surface wave parameters and a high-resolution surface wind field derived from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image mode data, we have investigated the spatial modification of SAR spectra. We found a surface wind front, formed by sheltering effect of the Kii Mountains, separating high and low wind-speed regions in a sea area of an European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS) SAR image off the Kii Peninsula. A swell system propagating westward dominates in the whole sea area covered by the SAR image. The wavelength retrieved from the SAR spectra in the sheltered (non-sheltered) region is longer (shorter). Since the distributions of surface wave parameters and surface wind speed are so well correlated, it can be considered that the SAR spectra are modified differently by the sheltered/non-sheltered surface winds. In order to examine the phenomena observed on the SAR image we have estimated the wind-wave SAR spectrum using the SAR surface winds, a wind-wave spectrum model and a SAR wave imaging model. We assume that the SAR spectrum related to the swell is homogeneous in the area imaged by SAR, and that the SAR spectrum of the wind-wave components causes the observed SAR spectra modification. Differences between the observed SAR spectra and the estimated SAR spectra in the sheltered and non-sheltered regions agree well with each other. In the present case, it can be concluded that the observed SAR spectra can be regarded as a linear combination of the wind-wave SAR spectra and the swell SAR spectra.     

Wave direction measured by four different systems

During a March 1977 experiment, four systems were used to provide wave-direction information offshore of Mission Beach, CA: a synthetic aperature radar (SAR) carried aboard a NASA CV990 aircraft, a coastal imaging radar, a pressure-gauge array offshore, and aerial photography aboard two aircraft. The coastal radar, aerial photographs, and SAR provided wave images. From the coastal radar images and the aerial photographs, the direction and length of the principal wavetrains were measured by a manual analysis. The SAR images were also processed using an FFT to give two-dimensional wave spectra. The array at the Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC) tower was used to provide directional wave spectra. Scatter diagrams are presented, which intercompare the measurements from these four systems. In addition, radar image spectral information is compared with the array spectra. The intercomparison of the data from these four systems shows good agreement among the imaging systems. Between the imaging systems and the pressure array there is agreement for the most prominent wavetrains and disagreement for several cases where multiple wavetrains from different directions but with similar periods are present.     

Static and dynamic modeling of a SAR imaged ocean scene

A number of models exist that attempt to explain wave imagery obtained with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). These models are of two types; static models that depend on instantaneous surface features and dynamic models that employ surface velocities. Radar backscatter values (sigma_{0}) were calculated from 1.3- and 9.4-GHz SAR data collected off Marineland, FL. Thesigma_{0}data (averaged over many wave trains) collected at Marineland can best be modeled by the Bragg-Rice-Phillips model which is based on roughness variation and the complex dielectric constant of oceans. This result suggests that capillaries on the surface of oceanic waves are the primary cause for the surface return observed by a SAR. Salinity and temperature of the sea at small and medium incidence angles produce little effect upon sea-surface reflection coefficients atX-band, for either of the linear polarizations. The authors' observation of moving ocean, imaged by the SAR and studied in the SAR optical correlator, support a theory that the ocean surface appears relatively stationary in the absence of currents. The reflecting surface is most likely moving slowly (i.e., capillaries) relative to the phase velocity of the large gravity waves.     

A semiempirical algorithm for SAR wave height retrieval and its validation using Envisat ASAR wave mode data

Many synthetic aperture radar(SAR) wave height retrieval algorithms have been developed.However,the wave height retrievals from most existing methods either depend on other input as the first guess or are restricted to the long wave regime.A semiempirical algorithm is presented,which has the objective to estimate the wave height from SAR imagery without any prior knowledge.The proposed novel algorithm was developed based on the theoretical SAR ocean wave imaging mechanism and the empirical relation between two types of wave period.The dependency of the proposed model on radar incident and wave direction was analyzed.For Envisat advanced synthetic aperture radar(ASAR) wave mode data,the model can be reduced to the simple form with two input parameters,i.e.,the cutoff wavelength and peak wavelength of ocean wave,which can be retrieved from SAR imagery without any prior knowledge of wind or wave.Using Envisat ASAR wave mode data and the collocated buoy measurements from NDBC,the semiempirical algorithm is validated and compared with the Envisat ASAR level 2 products.The root-mean-square-error(RMSE) and scatter index(SI) in respect to the in situ measurements are 0.52 m and 19% respectively.Validation results indicate that,for Envisat ASAR wave mode data,the proposed method works well.     

Radar sensing of the ocean

Radar remote sensing of the ocean has been the subject of research for about 20 years. Spaceborne radar altimetry and scatterometry are approaching maturity, and synthetic-aperture radars (SAR) show great promise. The principles of radar scattering from the sea are outlined here, along with some recently discovered questions. For wind-vector scatterometry, the principle is presented, and remaining uncertainties are outlined. Principles of SAR imaging of moving targets, and particularly the ocean surface, are outlined. The theory of SAR wave imaging is the subject of considerable controversy, and some principles that can be used in evaluating the various theories are presented, along with brief outlines of the major conflicting theories. Other uses of SAR images are discussed briefly, with a theory to explain the bathymetric expression outlined.     

海浪同化预报模型理论基础

将共轭变分同化方法应用于 LAGFD- WAM海浪数值模式 ,导出了海浪谱能量平衡方程的共轭方程以及风输入、破碎、底摩擦、波波非线性相互作用和波流相互作用的相应共轭源函数 ,建立了海浪同化模型 ,数值计算仍采用特征线嵌入计算格式 ,为合成孔径雷达波谱反演资料和卫星高度计有效波高资料同化奠定理论基础     

Simulation model of SAR remote sensing of turbulent wake of semi-elliptical submerged body

1 IntroductionThe study of SAR remote sensing of surface wake of a semi-elliptical submerged body is of great importance actually in the ocean. The dynamics and the SAR remote sensing mechanism of this wake are very complicated. Numerous researches (Bergmann et al., 1958; Miles, 1968a,b; Huppert and Miles, 1969; Bon-neton et al., 1993) indicate that in the ocean the imagery and dynamics of this wake are quite different when a semi-elliptical submerged body moves horizontally at high speed …     

ASAR波模式数据反演参数误差与海浪条纹清晰度的相关性分析

欧洲环境卫星-高级合成孔径雷达(EnvironmentalSatellite-AdvancedSyntheticAperture Radar,Envisat-ASAR)波模式数据提供了全球风、浪要素信息,在海浪模式预报与同化方面有重要作用。该数据合成孔径雷达(SyntheticApertureRadar,SAR)图像普遍存在海浪条纹清晰度不同的现象,但是否影响数据精度尚无定论。本文通过比较2010年NODC (the National Oceanographic Date Center)浮标观测数据和波模式数据,发现经过官方修正后的海浪参数反而具有更大误差。进而通过对比不同条纹清晰度的SAR图像反演参数误差,揭示了ASAR产品海浪参数与浮标测量值之间的误差与海浪条纹清晰度的关系。结果表明:海浪条纹清晰的SAR图像的主波波长和主波周期的反演误差更小,而条纹不清晰SAR图像的有效波高和风速的反演误差更小。通过分析海浪参数对海浪条纹清晰度的敏感性,证实了有效波高和方位向截断波长对SAR图像条纹清晰度的响应最好,波陡次之,与卫星飞行方位角和入射角无关。因此,在反演和修正SAR波模式数据时,考虑图像的条纹清晰度,将会有效提高反演数据的精度。该研究可为高分三号等卫星的波模式数据波浪要素反演精度的提升提供有价值的参考。     

高分三号卫星对海浪的首次定量遥感

高分三号(GF-3)是我国首颗C频段多极化高分辨率微波遥感卫星,于2016年8月10日在太原卫星发射中心成功发射。GF-3 SAR卫星入射角范围约为20°—50°,具备单极化、双极化和全极化等多极化工作能力,还是世界上成像模式最多的SAR卫星,具有12种成像模式。不仅涵盖了传统的条带、扫描成像模式,而且可在聚束、条带、扫描、波浪、全球观测、高低入射角等多种成像模式下实现自由切换,既可以探地,又可以观海,达到"一星多用"的效果。近日,国家海洋局第二海洋研究所卫星海洋环境动力学国家重点实验室利用首批GF-3合成孔径雷达(SAR)遥感数据(图1)对夏威夷西北部附近太平洋海域的海浪进行了首次定量分析和反演研究(图2)。图1为GF-3 SAR的灰度图像,成像时间为2016年9月2日8:30(GMT),卫星此时飞行速度约为7.6km,极化方式为VV极化,飞行方向为降轨,空间分辨率为8m×8m,中心入射角为28.32°。由图1可以看出,SAR图像上存在明显的黑白相间的海浪条纹,说明海浪在图像上能够顺利成像。通过提取灰度图像上的调制信息,并作傅里叶变换分析,可得到包含海浪信息的图像谱。进一步,基于经典的Hasselmann SAR海浪成像模型的准线性形式,同时估计倾斜调制、水动力调制和聚束调制等三种海浪调制函数(MTF),可以利用图像谱反演得到海浪谱,此时的海浪谱主要为较长波长的涌浪信息,至于较短波长的海浪信息提取,由于受到方位向截断效应的影响,则需要引入初猜谱加以补偿实现。图2为图1反演的海面涌浪参数。从图2可以看出,该海域海浪由西北向东南传播(即由外海向近岸传播),平均波长约200m,有效波高从2.5m到4.0m不等,能够反映浪场的分布差异。由于没有同步的现场观测资料和其他卫星遥感资料,本文将这些结果与欧洲中期天气预报中心(ECMWF)提供的ERA-Interim再分析数据进行了比对。初步反演与比对结果表明,两者有较好的一致性,但本文的反演结果反映了更多的细节,显示GF-3 SAR有能力对海面涌浪信息进行高分辨率的观测;同时,再次表明ERA-Interim再分析数据低估了有效波高,因此GF-3卫星的发射将有利于提高全球海浪的遥感观测水平。     

Directional spectrum analysis and statistics obtained from ERS-1 SAR wave images

This work examines ERS-1 (the first European Remote Sensing Satellite) SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) water surface wave images over Hualien of Taiwan, indicating that the variation of SAR signals in space domain is similar to in situ wave data's in time domain. Some statistical properties of SAR data are investigated. The Rayleigh distribution function closely corresponds with the histogram of wave heights, but the Gaussian one cannot for water surface displacements. Evidence reveals that SAR wave signals do not respond well to actual ocean waves effectively. As wave spectral analysis of available SAR data reveals, the appropriate sample size of SAR wave image, sampling average, and moving average should be taken carefully to accurately confirm directional power spectra. Moreover, SAR spectra are compared with in situ ones, confirming that peak frequencies correlate well and wave directions approximately agree with each other. Some differences between both spectral shapes remain somewhat unclear and require further study. Nevertheless, in this study, ERS-1 SAR power spectra verified the feasibility of deriving an appropriate dominant wave direction and peak frequency.     

Phase and doppler errors in a spaceborne synthetic aperture radar imaging the ocean surface

Data processing in a spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging the ocean surface is affected by earth rotation, orbit eccentricity, and wave motion. Without compensation these sources will cause the images to shift in range and in-track positions and also cause defocusing. Ionospheric granularities may degrade image quality. Calculations of the magnitudes of these effects are presented.     

基于理论的气旋条件下双极化C波段合成孔径雷达波参数检测

Theoretical-based ocean wave retrieval algorithms are applied by inverting a synthetic aperture radar(SAR)intensity spectrum into a wave spectrum, that has been developed based on a SAR wave mapping mechanism. In our previous studies, it was shown that the wave retrieval algorithm, named the parameterized first-guess spectrum method(PFSM), works for C-band and X-band SAR at low to moderate sea states. In this work, we investigate the performance of the PFSM algorithm when it is applied for dual-polarization c-band sentinel-1(S-1) SAR acquired in extra wide-swath(EW) and interferometric wide-swath(IW) mode under cyclonic conditions.Strong winds are retrieved from six vertical-horizontal(VH) polarization S-1 SAR images using the c-band crosspolarization coupled-parameters ocean(C-3 PO) model and then wave parameters are obtained from the image at the vertical-vertical(VV) polarization channel. significant wave height(SWH) and mean wave period(MWP) are compared with simulations from the WAVEWATCH-III(WW3) model. The validation shows a 0.69 m root mean square error(RMSE) of SWH with a –0.01 m bias and a 0.62 s RMSE of MWP with a –0.17 s bias. Although the PFSM algorithm relies on a good quality SAR spectrum, this study confirms the applicability for wave retrieval from an S-1 SAR image. Moreover, it is found that the retrieved results have less accuracy on the right sector of cyclone eyes where swell directly affects strong wind-sea, while the PFSM algorithm works well on the left and rear sectors of cyclone eyes where the interaction of wind-sea and swell is relatively poor.     

Retrieval of surface wave parameters from sar images and their validation in the coastal seas around Japan

We have developed a scheme to retrieve surface wave parameters (wave height and wave propagation direction) from European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image mode data in coastal seas around Japanese coastlines. SAR spectra are converted to surface wave spectra of swell-dominated or wind-wave dominated cases. The SAR spectrum and SAR-derived wind speed are used to derive the surface wave spectrum. The wind-wave dominated case and swell-dominated case are differentiated by a wind speed of 6 m/s, and processed in different ways because of their different degree of nonlinearity. It is indicated that the cutoff wavelength for retrieval of the wind-wave dominated spectrum is proportional to the root of significant wave height, which is consistent with the results of previous studies. We generated 66 match-ups using the SAR sub-images and the in-situ surface wave parameters, which were measured by wave gauges installed in near-shore seas. Among them, there are 57 swell-dominated cases, and 9 wind-wave dominated cases. The significant wave heights derived from SAR and from in-situ observation agree with the bias of 0.09 m, the standard deviation of 0.61 m and the correlation coefficient of 0.78. The averaged absolute deviation of wave propagation directions is 18.4°, and the trend of the agreement does not depend on the wave height. These results demonstrate that the SAR surface wave spectrum retrieved by the present system can be used to observe the surface wave field in the coastal seas around Japan.     

Nearshore Wave Field Analysis Using SAR Images

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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...