Radar scattering of the ocean surface and sea-roughness properties: A combined analysis from dual-polarizations airborne radar observations and models in C band

Type Article
Date 2006-09
Language English
Author(s) Mouche AlexisORCID1, 2, Hauser D2, Kudryavtsev V3
Affiliation(s) 2 : CETP IPSL CNRS UVSQ, F-78140 Velizy Villacoublay, France.
3 : NIERSC, St Petersburg 197101, Russia.
Source Journal of geophysical research ocean (0148-0227) (American Geophysical Union), 2006-09 , Vol. 111 , N. C9004 , P. 1-18
DOI 10.1029/2005JC003166
WOS© Times Cited 60
Keyword(s) Wave breaking, Sea surface anisotropy, Radar cross section
Abstract [1] An analysis of radar observations in C band combined with models is proposed to study some of the ocean surface properties and their relation with the sea surface backscatter. The electromagnetic part of the models is of different kinds: composite Bragg model with or without including effect of wave breaking zones on the normalized radar cross-section (NRCS), geometrical optics approximation and small-slope approximation model. The surface description is based on the wave spectrum proposed by Kudryavtsev et al. (2003), but tests with the spectrum of Elfouhaily et al. (1997) are also discussed to assess our conclusions. The originality is to use not only the NRCS in HH and VV polarizations, but also their difference in linear units. First, we show that the upwind-to-downwind anisotropy of the radar signal cannot be explained entirely by the modulation of Bragg waves by longer surface waves, but that an additional nonpolarized contribution must be invoked to explain it, consistently with scattering from zones of enhanced roughness associated with breaking waves. Then, combining a composite model and observations in the two polarizations, we assess the contribution of the nonpolarized backscatter on the total NRCS. Finally, the proposed full model, which takes into account the nonpolarized contribution over breaking zones, gives good agreement with the observed polarization ratio and with the NRCS in each polarization.
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Mouche Alexis, Hauser D, Kudryavtsev V (2006). Radar scattering of the ocean surface and sea-roughness properties: A combined analysis from dual-polarizations airborne radar observations and models in C band. Journal of geophysical research ocean, 111(C9004), 1-18. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JC003166 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1877/