Estimation of the possibility to measure the elevation of the rough water surface using a cross-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar

Abstract

We analyze the operation of an oceanographic cross-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar and present estimates of the signal-to-noise ratio in the obtained interferograms. It is shown that after filtering additive phase noise, the interferograms allow one to restore the profile of a sufficiently large-scale part of water-surface roughness. The criterion of large-scale roughness is determined mainly by the ratio R/V of the oblique distance R to the velocity V of a carrier of the interferometric synthetic aperture radar, as well as by the character and propagation direction of the surface roughness.