Aircraft synthetic aperture radar and buoy ocean wave measurements off the coast of Norway

Abstract

Abstract Aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements from seven flight paths at two different altitudes were acquired over a tri-modal ocean wave system off the coast of Norway on 11 March 1988. These three-wave systems travelling in different directions were also measured by a directional buoy with the buoy spectra rotated into the radar coordinates for comparison with SAR spectra. Fifteen subspectra were averaged to obtain the measured SAR spectra and sixteen spectral bands were averaged to obtain the measured buoy spectra. The seven flight paths in conjunction with the three wave systems resulted in a nearly uniform distribution, of azimuth peak directions varying from 0° to 83° and R/Vvarying from 28 to 110 s. The SAR spectra derived and buoy peak wavelength and direction comparison show the expected variation, however some scatter and bias are present. The r.m.s. scatter was about 10 per cent or less for the peak wavelength and 10° or less for the peak direction. We consider the scatter as p...