Interpretation of SAR signatures of the sea surface: A multi-sensor approach

Abstract

A spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides unique high-resolution views of the sea surface. These finely detailed images constitute some of the most complex and least understood data provided by remote sensing. The sea surface can appear featureless or contain the signatures of such diverse phenomena as surface and internal waves, upwelling, current boundaries, eddies, shallow water bathymetry, wind, storms, rainfall, convective rolls and cells, surface films and objects, and a wide variety of sea ice forms. The interpretation of SAR signatures can be vastly improved by the concurrent analysis of data collected by a suite of other visible, infrared and microwave sensors. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.