Microwave Sensing of the Ocean Surface

A review of electromagnetic (e.m.) and hydrodynamic processes pertinent to the backscatter of microwaves from water/ocean waves is presented. The understanding of e.m. scattering from the ocean has increased rapidly in the past two decades. The enhanced knowledge has allowed the probing of ocean waves with radio/microwaves, paving the way for the success of the first oceanographic satellite in 1978, SEASAT. In the future, as the calibration of microwave sensors improve, satellite measurements of the world oceans should become routine. In particular, the forthcoming 1989–1994 World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) will rely on microwave measurements from space for wind stress and geostrophic currents information.

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