Wave Breaking in Slicks: Impacts on C-Band Quad-Polarized SAR Measurements

Type Article
Date 2016-11
Language English
Author(s) Wergeland Morten1, Kudryavtsev Vladimir2, 3, 4, Chapron BertrandORCID5, Brekke Camilla6, Johannessen Johnny A.1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Nansen Environm & Remote Sensing Ctr, N-5006 Bergen, Norway.
2 : Russian State Hydrometeorol Univ, St Petersburg 195196, Russia.
3 : Marine Hydrophys Inst, Sevastopol 99011, Ukraine.
4 : Nansen Environm & Remote Sensing Ctr, N-5006 Bergen, Norway.
5 : Ifremer CERSAT, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
6 : Univ Tromso, Dept Phys & Technol, N-9019 Tromso, Norway.
Source Ieee Journal Of Selected Topics In Applied Earth Observations And Remote Sensing (1939-1404) (Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc), 2016-11 , Vol. 9 , N. 11 , P. 4929-4940
DOI 10.1109/JSTARS.2016.2587840
WOS© Times Cited 32
Keyword(s) Oil pollution, radar imaging, sea surface, surface waves
Abstract Radarsat-2 C-band quad-polarization SAR observations of crude oil, emulsion, and plant oil slicks acquired in the wind speed range from 4 to 8 m/s and incidence angles from 30 degrees to 50 degrees are analyzed to yield new insights into the attenuation of short waves and breaking waves by surface slicks in real conditions. To provide a direct quantitative assessment of the surface wave damping, the measurements are decomposed into polarization difference (PD), polarization ratio (PR), nonpolarized (NP), and cross-polarized (CP) components. The PD signals relate to the extent of Bragg damping in the slick areas, over which the PR is systematically higher than over the ambient sea surface. Attenuation of the breaking waves is revealed to affect both the CP and the NP signals, with distinct but weaker contrasts compared to that of the PD. A revised physical model description is proposed to provide consistent interpretation of the polarized and NP signals. The results suggest that the different slick types and look-alikes can be efficiently discriminated and classified.
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Wergeland Morten, Kudryavtsev Vladimir, Chapron Bertrand, Brekke Camilla, Johannessen Johnny A. (2016). Wave Breaking in Slicks: Impacts on C-Band Quad-Polarized SAR Measurements. Ieee Journal Of Selected Topics In Applied Earth Observations And Remote Sensing, 9(11), 4929-4940. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2016.2587840 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00363/47460/