A parametric scheme for the retrieval of two‐dimensional ocean wave spectra from synthetic aperture radar look cross spectra

Abstract

A parametric inversion scheme for the retrieval of two‐dimensional (2‐D) ocean wave spectra from look cross spectra acquired by spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented. The scheme uses SAR observations to adjust numerical wave model spectra. The Partition Rescaling and Shift Algorithm (PARSA) is based on a maximum a posteriori approach in which an optimal estimate of a 2‐D wave spectrum is calculated given a measured SAR look cross spectrum (SLCS) and additional prior knowledge. The method is based on explicit models for measurement errors as well as on uncertainties in the SAR imaging model and the model wave spectra used as prior information. Parameters of the SAR imaging model are estimated as part of the retrieval. Uncertainties in the prior wave spectrum are expressed in terms of transformation variables, which are defined for each wave system in the spectrum, describing rotations and rescaling of wave numbers and energy as well as changes of directional spreading. Technically, the PARSA wave spectra retrieval is based on the minimization of a cost function. A Levenberg‐Marquardt method is used to find a numerical solution. The scheme is tested using both simulated SLCS and ERS‐2 SAR data. It is demonstrated that the algorithm makes use of the phase information contained in SLCS, which is of particular importance for multimodal sea states. Statistics are presented for a global data set of 11,000 ERS‐2 SAR wave mode SLCS acquired in southern winter 1996.