Detection of ocean wave parameters using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data

Abstract

This study describes the estimation of spherical wave parameters that appears in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired over the coast of Chukk, Micronesia. The main causes for the interaction of SAR signals with ocean waves can be retrieved through the Bragg scattering mechanism. Dominant wavelengths were retrieved by means of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis in terms of peak frequency responses. Sea surface slopes were then obtained from the dispersion relation with consideration of different water wave conditions for each subset area, and wave heights were estimated with the use of dominant wavelengths and sea surface slopes. The work presented in this paper may be useful to retrieve the various wave parameters over different regions. The method used is a novel technique to correlate the relationship between SAR image parameters and dispersion relation. Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 2012.