Accuracy improvement of the radar backscatter simulation from sea surface covered by oil slick using fetch-dependent waveheight spectrum: Comparison with the 2007 Heibei Spirit Case in the Yellow Sea

Abstract

In this paper, results are presented on the comparison of X-band radar backscattering coefficient (RBC) from an oilcovered sea surface that features the Elfouhaily and Durden-Vesecky waveheight spectra. The Durden-Vesecky spectrum applies to a fully-developed sea, while the Elfouhaily spectrum accounts for the fetch of arbitrary length. Using these two waveheight spectra, a one-dimensional random rough surface is simulated by the Monte Carlo method, and the method of moments (MoM) is applied to yield the RBC. Comparison of the results with TerraSAR-X synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data acquired over the coastal waters polluted by the Hebei Spirit oil tanker shows that the Elfouhaily spectrum yields better agreement than the Durden-Vesecky spectrum for the fully-developed sea, and that the fetch-dependent Elfouhaily spectrum improves the agreement with SAR data in comparison with the fetch-independent spectrum for the fully developed sea. A possible application to estimate the amount of spilled oil is also suggested.