Counterpropagating waves on the sea surface (Results of Natural Microwave Experiment)

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the results of the natural experiment on the study of nonlinear dynamics of surface waves by microwave methods. During the experiment, waves traveling in opposition to the wind and the dominant wave system were detected by high-resolution microwave radar methods. An analysis of the results of microwave sounding made it possible to obtain a space-frequency spectrum of counterpropagating waves, to estimate their intensity, and to relate the fact of counterpropagating wave generation to experimental conditions. It was shown that the generation of counterpropagating waves under conditions of this experiment can be interpreted on the basis of the mechanism of the cubic interaction of surface gravity waves.