Numerical calculations of radar scattering from sharply peaked ocean waves

A numerical solution of the surface-current integral equation is used to calculate the radar backscatter for several wavelike surfaces. The surfaces used in this study represent solutions of the water wave equations for finite amplitude, irrotational gravity waves, with steepnesses selected so as to produce minimum radii of curvature ranging from zero to a value equal to the electromagnetic wavelength and with wave amplitudes ranging from about one-half to five times the electromagnetic wavelength. The results are used to evaluate the importance of edge diffraction effects on backscatter from sharply peaked ocean waves.

[1]  K. Mitzner.  An Integral Equation Approach to Scattering From a Body of Finite Conductivity , 1967 .

[2]  V. V. Pustovoytenko,et al.  On polarization features of radio signals scattered from the sea surface at small grazing angles , 1976 .

[3]  Performance of a numerical iterative solution of the surface current integral equation for surfaces containing small radii of curvature , 1998 .

[4]  C. Macaskill,et al.  Iterative techniques for rough surface scattering problems , 1995 .

[5]  D. Jackson,et al.  The validity of the perturbation approximation for rough surface scattering using a Gaussian roughness spectrum , 1988 .

[6]  David T. Walker,et al.  Radar backscatter and surface roughness measurements for stationary breaking waves , 1996, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[7]  B. Lake,et al.  A deterministic, coherent, and dual-polarized laboratory study of microwave backscattering from water waves, Part I: Short gravity waves without wind , 1984, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[8]  Andrew T. Jessup,et al.  Breaking waves affecting microwave backscatter: 1. Detection and verification , 1991 .

[9]  Dennis B. Trizna,et al.  Studies of dual polarized low grazing angle radar sea scatter in nearshore regions , 1996, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[10]  M. Longuet-Higgins,et al.  Accelerations in Steep Gravity Waves , 1985 .

[11]  Anatol D. Rozenberg,et al.  Laboratory study of polarized scattering by surface waves at grazing incidence. I. Wind waves , 1995, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[12]  E. H. Fooks,et al.  On the microwave reflectivity of small-scale breaking water waves , 1985, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[13]  Andrew T. Jessup,et al.  Breaking waves affecting microwave backscatter: 2. Dependence on wind and wave conditions , 1991 .

[14]  Mark R. Loewen,et al.  Microwave backscatter and acoustic radiation from breaking waves , 1991, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[15]  J. D. Barter,et al.  Wind-speed dependence of small-grazing-angle microwave backscatter from sea surfaces , 1996 .

[16]  M. Longuet-Higgins.  The almost-highest wave: a simple approximation , 1979, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[17]  I. D. Olin,et al.  Experimental study and theoretical model of high‐resolution radar backscatter from the sea , 1980 .

[18]  Paul A. Hwang,et al.  Laboratory studies of radar sea spikes at low grazing angles , 1991 .

[19]  Mark A. Sletten,et al.  Ultrawideband, polarimetric radar studies of breaking waves at low grazing angles , 1996 .

[20]  A. L. Maffett,et al.  The Contribution of Wedge Scattering to the Radar Cross Section of the Ocean Surface , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[21]  Andrew T. Jessup,et al.  Acoustic and microwave signatures of breaking waves , 1988, Nature.

[22]  Wedge scattering by the method of iteration , 1995 .

[23]  J. J. McCoy,et al.  Scattering at a rough boundary—Extensions of the Kirchhoff approximation , 1982 .

[24]  Robert J. Burkholder,et al.  An iterative physical optics approach for analyzing the electromagnetic scattering by large open-ended cavities , 1995 .

[25]  Robert A. Shuchman,et al.  Analysis of scatterer motion effects in Marsen X band SAR imagery , 1983 .