Analysis of marine radar image spectra collected during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave experiment

Abstract

Remote measurements of wave spectra were made using MacLaren Plansearch's Marine Radar Wave Measuring System (Macrada^©) for the duration of the ERS‐1 Grand Banks Experiment (10–27 November 1991). The system consists of a Furuno X‐band marine navigation radar and a personal computer. The system was installed and operated onboard the BIO Research vessel CSS Hudson during the experiment. The radar system provides fully directional wave spectra in real time (within minutes of image acquisition) as well as archiving of the raw images for future analysis. During each of the satellite overpasses, excellent data were collected, covering a variety of wave conditions.

This paper describes the data analysis procedures and presents the results of the experiment. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to study: (1) sensitivity to the number of radar images processed on the resultant spectra, (2) effect of missing one or more images in a dataset, and (3) sensitivity to azimuth angle variation. Finally, the results are compared with corresponding directional wave spectra from other sensors (such as WAVEC Buoy and ERS‐1 SAR).