On the Applicability of Satellite-Borne SAR Imagery to Coastal Oceanography

Abstract

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images have been acquired from the first European Space Agency (ESA) remote sensing satellite ERS- 1. The mesoscale feature images are from Norwegian coastal waters and the Mediterranean (Elba and Sicily areas). Theories are tested for their ability to explain the observed variability of the radar-cross section. By means of empirical models, developed for the ERS-I scatterometer, wind speeds are extracted from the SAR images and compared with measured data. Theories of SAR imaging and boundary-layer stability are applied to investigating the imaging of thermal fronts. The possibility of determining surface-current variability from SAR images is emphasized. The theoretical approach is based on the modulation of small-scale scattering waves by underlying currents.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1996
Accession Number
AD1113753

Entities

People

  • H. H. Essen

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Boundary Layer
  • Doppler Effect
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Grids
  • High Resolution
  • Internal Waves
  • Measurement
  • Meteorology
  • Nato
  • Remote Sensing
  • Scattering
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Surface Temperature
  • Surface Waves
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Radar Systems Engineering.
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects