Study of ocean wave measurement using spaceborne SAR

Kurzfassung

SAR is a unique spaceborne sensor can provide two-dimensional ocean surface information in high resolution, while independent of cloud cover and daytime. In the present paper, we focus on the study of global and coastal measurements of surface gravity waves, e.g., two-dimensional wave spectra and integral wave parameters, from SAR data. For the global measurements, SWH is derived from the ENVISAT ASAR wave mode data by using the CWAVE empirical algorithm. Validation, particularly compared to independent datasets, i.e., in situ buoy measurements and radar altimeters, proves that reliable and accurate sea state measurements can be achieved using this algorithm. The new X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) TerraSAR-X has provided numerous high quality data over land and ocean operationally since it was launched in 2007 June. In the present study, surface wave refraction and diffraction are investigated using TerraSAR-X imagery acquired over the coast of Terceira island situated in the North Atlantic.