Radar investigations of breaking water waves at low grazing angles with simultaneous high‐speed optical imagery

[1] This paper describes the results of radar scattering experiments carried out at the wavetank facility at the University of Maryland, College Park. Spilling and plunging breakers with a water wavelength of approximately 80 cm were generated through dispersive focusing of a chirped wave packet, and were then imaged with a high-speed camera in conjunction with a laser sheet. Simultaneously, the radar backscatter generated by the breakers when viewed with an “up-wave” look direction was measured by an ultrawideband, dual-polarized, X-band radar with a range resolution of approximately 4 cm. The nominal grazing angle of the radar was 12°. In addition to providing both quantitative profiles of the evolving water surface and the corresponding ultrahigh resolution radar backscatter, this experimental setup also included a moving instrument carriage that allowed the sensors to follow the breakers throughout their entire evolution. Numerical scattering simulations that use the measured surface profiles as inputs were also conducted in order to further dissect the scattering mechanism. An analysis of the results shows that for the spilling breaker, over 90% of the horizontally (HH) polarized radar backscatter is generated during the initial stage of breaking by the small bulge near the wave crest. For vertical (VV) polarization, the crest bulge produces about 60% of the total backscattered energy. For both polarizations, the Doppler velocity associated with this energy is very close to that of the phase speed of the dominant wave in the water wave packet. For VV, the remainder of the backscattered energy is generated by the turbulent, postbreaking surface, and in fact a close correlation is observed between increases in the VV backscatter amplitude and the shedding of vortex ripples after the wave breaks. For the plunging breaker, the initial feature on the crest (an overturning jet) generates a lower percentage of the total backscattered energy. For the spilling breaker, agreement between the experimental and numerical results is good, particularly in the Doppler domain. The simulations also indicate uncertainty in the polarization ratio measurements that is related to multipath scattering. To the extent that they can be applied to the open ocean, these results can serve as a guide for the development of future breaker models.