Fuzzy Logic Applied to Track Generation Areas of Swell Systems Observed by SAR

Abstract

Recently, with the availability of a great number of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) wave mode spectra, it has been possible to derive a set of great circle lines of swell propagation whose intersection points indicate the position of the storm generating the observed swell field. However, due to the inherent limitations of SAR spectra, the locus of convergence of great circle of swell propagation can be sometimes diffuse or contain multiple convergence regions. In this letter, we adapted the fuzzy cluster logic method to identify the regions of convergence of SAR wave field rays. The analysis of the results of the fuzzy algorithm clearly indicates the ability of this statistical method to identify the cluster center region of swell fields observed in SAR wave mode images. The measure of success of the method was how well the generation center of the swell could be traced back to an existing strong storm system.