Bistatic Radar Systems at Large Baselines for Ocean Observation

The capabilities of bistatic radar observations to estimate the wind field over the ocean are investigated in this paper. The work is based on the analysis of simulated data obtained through a well-established electromagnetic model, which accounts for the anisotropy of the ocean’s spectrum and of second-order effects of the scattering phenomenon. Both co-polarized and cross-polarized C-band numerical data, obtained considering monostatic and bistatic configurations, are exploited to investigate on the existence of optimal configurations able to minimize the wind vector error estimation. To this aim, the sensitivities of the bistatic normalized radar cross section with respect to both wind speed and direction are accurately investigated and exploited to evaluate the minimum achievable error standard deviation of the estimation. Small and large baselines are analyzed, giving particular emphasis to bistatic geometries constituted by one or two passive receivers aligned along the track defined by the active system. This investigation, originally performed in the framework of the SAOCOM-CS scientific satellite mission, is conceived to accurately assess the potentiality of bistatic observations of the ocean over variable baselines and to gather valuable information for the design of future bistatic satellite missions.