scholarly journals Simultaneous Measurement of Ocean Winds and Waves with an Airborne Coherent Real Aperture Radar

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 832-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Plant ◽  
William C. Keller ◽  
Kenneth Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Ocean Surface ◽  
Naval Research ◽  
Wave Spectra ◽  
Received Power ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Directional Wave ◽  
Real Aperture Radar ◽  
Aperture Radar

Abstract A coherent, X-band airborne radar has been developed to measure wind speed and direction simultaneously with directional wave spectra on the ocean. The coherent real aperture radar (CORAR) measures received power, mean Doppler shifts, and mean Doppler bandwidths from small-resolution cells on the ocean surface and converts them into measurements of winds and waves. The system operates with two sets of antennas, one rotating and one looking to the side of the airplane. The rotating antennas yield neutral wind vectors at a height of 10 m above the ocean surface using a scatterometer model function to relate measured cross sections to wind speed and direction. The side-looking antennas produce maps of normalized radar cross section and line-of-sight velocity from which directional ocean wave spectra may be obtained. Capabilities of CORAR for wind and wave measurement are illustrated using data taken during the Shoaling Waves Experiment (SHOWEX) sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Wind vectors measured by CORAR agree well with those measured by nearby buoys. Directional wave spectra obtained by CORAR also agree with buoy measurements and illustrate that offshore winds can produce dominant waves at an angle to the wind vector that are in good agreement with the measurements. The best agreement is produced using the Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) parameterizations of the development of wave height and period with fetch.

scholarly journals Measuring Ocean Waves From Space: Objectives and Characteristics of the China-France Oceanography SATellite (CFOSAT)

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danie`le Hauser ◽  
Ce´line Tison ◽  
Jean-Michel Lefe`vre ◽  
Juliette Lambin ◽  
Amiot Thierry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Ocean Surface ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Wave Spectra ◽  
Wind Vector ◽  
Satellite Mission ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
Related Science ◽  
Directional Wave ◽  
Ku Band

The Chinese and French Space Agencies are jointly preparing a satellite mission devoted to the monitoring of the ocean surface and related science and applications. This is the so-called “China France Oceanography SATellite” (CFOSAT), to be launched around 2013. This mission will provide simultaneous and collocated observations of wind at the ocean surface and spectral properties of surface ocean waves using two scatterometers, both in Ku-Band: SWIM for measurements of directional wave spectra and SCAT for wind vector measurements. The SWIM instrument will use a real aperture observation technique so as to avoid limitations encountered with SAR systems. This paper describes the main objectives and characteristics of the mission with a focus on the SWIM instrument designed and developed under French responsibility to measure directional spectra of ocean waves.

Shipboard Measurement of Ocean Waves

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Fu ◽  
Anne M. Fullerton ◽  
Erin E. Hackett ◽  
Craig Merrill
Keyword(s):  
Field Tests ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Naval Research ◽  
Wave Spectra ◽  
Individual Measurement ◽  
Office Of Naval Research ◽  
Wave Radar ◽  
New Instrumentation ◽  
Directional Wave ◽  
Commercial Off The Shelf

Over the past several years a number of techniques have been utilized for the measurement of ocean waves from shipboard platforms. These systems have ranged from commercial off the shelf (COTS) navigation radar and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems to specially developed in-house instrumentation systems. Most of these systems have been utilized to measure the directional wave spectra around the ship. More recently, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) and others have begun to utilize these techniques for shipboard measurement of individual ship generated waves as well as open ocean waves. NSWCCD has used a number of these methods on various Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) sponsored field tests. These field tests were performed on a variety of naval platforms over a range of sizes, including some fixed platforms, for various sea states. While each of these tests has had individual measurement goals and objectives, the series of tests has also provided an environment for testing and developing new instrumentation and exploring their capabilities. As a result of these efforts, instrumentation has grown in sophistication from qualitative video-based observations of the wave field around an underway vessel to laser and radar based imaging and ranging measurements of free surface dynamics. This work has led to higher fidelity data, as well as data that were previously unobtainable. In this paper we provide an overview of these systems and techniques and summarize the basic capabilities of each method by providing measurement examples/applications. These systems include a shipboard array of ultrasonic distance sensors for measuring directional wave spectra, a COTS wave radar system, and a COTS scanning LIDAR system. While not intending to be exhaustive, this paper seeks to highlight the insights gained from the recent applications of these techniques, as well as the difficulties and issues associated with shipboard measurements such as ship motion and logistical constraints.

On the Performance of the MPI Algorithm for the Retrieval of Significant Wave Height From ERS Synthetic Aperture Radar

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Violante-Carvalho ◽  
Ian S. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Aperture Radar ◽  
Wave Height ◽  
Significant Wave Height ◽  
Synthetic Aperture ◽  
Wave Spectra ◽  
Sar Images ◽  
Significant Wave ◽  
Directional Wave ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Aperture Radar

Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is to date the only source of two dimensional directional wave spectra with continuous and global coverage when operated in the so-called SAR Wave Mode (SWM). Since the launch in 1991 of the first European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 and more recently with ENVISAT millions of SWM imagettes containing detailed spectral information are now available in quasi-real time. This huge amount of directional wave data has opened up many exciting possibilities for the improvement of our knowledge of the dynamics of ocean waves. However the retrieval of wave spectra from SAR images is not a trivial exercise due to the nonlinearities involved in the mapping mechanism. The Max-Planck Institut (MPI) scheme was the first ever proposed and most widely used algorithm to retrieve directional wave spectra from SAR images. In this work significant wave height retrieved from SAR images using the MPI scheme are compared against one year of directional buoy measurements obtained in deep water and against WAM spectra. Our results show that for periods shorter than 12 seconds the WAM model performs better than the MPI method, even considering the fact that the model is used as first guess to the MPI scheme. However, for periods longer than 12 seconds (the part of the spectrum directly observed by SAR) the MPI method performs better than WAM. This is in contrast with the results obtained by Voorrips et al. (2001), who found that the performance of the WAM model is superior even when only the low wavenumber part of the spectrum is considered.

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