Effects of Wind Wave Spectra, Non-Gaussianity, and Swell on the Prediction of Ocean Microwave Backscatter with Facet Two-Scale Model

Abstract

The image intensity of high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is closely related to the facet scattering distribution. In this paper, the effects of wind wave spectra, non-Gaussianity of the sea surface, and swell on the distribution of the facet normalized radar cross section (NRCS) simulated by the facet two-scale model (TSM) are analyzed by comparing the simulated results with the Sentinel-1 SAR data, the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) data, and the geophysical model function (GMF) at the wind speed range of 3–16 m/s, the wind direction range of 0°–360°, and the incidence angle range of 30°–50° under VV and HH polarizations. The results show that the Apel spectrum achieves a more consistent mean NRCS and NRCS distribution with the reference data at low incidence angles, while the composite spectra perform better at high incidence angles under VV polarization. Under HH polarization, the Apel spectrum always has a better performance. The upwind–downwind asymmetry of backscattering can be predicted well by the modified TSM, which is constructed by incorporating bispectrum correction into the conventional TSM. The distribution of the scattering simulated by the modified TSM deviates from the Gaussian distribution significantly, which is in good agreement with the Sentinel-1 data. Additionally, the introduction of swell widens the spread of the NRCS distribution, and the fluctuation range of the NRCS profile considering swell is larger than that without swell. All these changes caused by the introduction of swell make the distribution of the facet scattering more consistent with the Sentinel-1 data. Moreover, the scattering image patterns and scattering image spectrum of the Sentinel-1 data can be successfully simulated at various sea states with the consideration of swell.