The Grand Banks ERS-1 SAR wave spectra validation experiment

As part of the ERS-1 validation program, the ERS-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) wave spectra validation experiment was carried out over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Canada) in Nov. 1991. The principal objective of the experiment was to obtain complete sets of wind and wave data from a variety of calibrated instruments to validate SAR measurements of ocean wave spectra. The field program activities are described and the rather complex wind and wave conditions which were observed are summarized. Spectral comparisons with ERS-1 SAR image spectra are provided. The ERS-1 SAR is shown to have measured swell and range traveling wind seas, but did not measure azimuth traveling wind seas at any time during the experiment. Results of velocity bunching forward mapping and new measurements of the relationship between wind stress and sea state are also shown.

[1]  Paris W. Vachon,et al.  Airborne and spaceborne synthetic aperture radar observations of ocean waves , 1994 .

[2]  Paris W. Vachon,et al.  The Grand Banks ERS-1 SAR wave experiment , 1993 .

[3]  E. Attema,et al.  The Active Microwave Instrument on-board the ERS-1 satellite , 1991, Proc. IEEE.

[4]  R. Beal,et al.  ERS‐1 and Almaz estimates of directional ocean wave spectra conditioned by simultaneous aircraft SAR and buoy measurements , 1994 .

[5]  Bertrand Chapron,et al.  Airborne radar measurements of ocean wave spectra and wind speed during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave experiment , 1994 .

[6]  C.E. Livingstone,et al.  CCRS C/X-airborne synthetic aperture radar: An R and D tool for the ERS-1 time frame , 1988, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine.

[7]  J. Trask,et al.  Analysis of marine radar image spectra collected during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave experiment , 1994 .

[8]  Robert J. Anderson,et al.  Measuring the relationship between wind stress and sea state in the open ocean in the presence of swell , 1994 .

[9]  C. L. Parsons,et al.  Off-nadir radar altimetry , 1989 .

[10]  Measuring Ocean Surface Waves Using HF Ground Wave Radar: Validation Against a Wave Model , 1993 .

[11]  Paul L. Baker,et al.  Aircraft and satellite measurement of ocean wave directional spectra using scanning-beam microwave radars , 1985 .

[12]  L. E. Borgman,et al.  The wadic project: A comprehensive field evaluation of directional wave instrumentation , 1989 .

[13]  P. W. Vachon,et al.  Generalizations of the non‐linear ocean‐SAR transform and a simplified SAR inversion algorithm , 1994 .

[14]  Harald E. Krogstad,et al.  Maximum Entropy Estimation of the Directional Distribution in Ocean Wave Spectra , 1986 .

[15]  J. R. Buckley,et al.  On the use of marine radar imagery for estimation of properties of the directional spectrum of the sea surface , 1994 .

[16]  V. Cardone,et al.  The Performance of the Canadian spectral ocean wave model (CSOWM) during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave spectra validation experiment , 1994 .

[17]  Airborne measurements of the ocean's Ku‐band radar cross‐section at low incidence angles , 1994 .