Measurements of Ocean-Ripple Curvatures

Abstract

As a part of the Synthetic Aperture Radar XBand Ocean Nonlinearlity - Forschungs Platform NORDSEE (SAXON-FPN) Experiment, measurements of ocean-ripple curvatures were performed with an optical sensing system supported at 30 m above the mean sea surface. At nadir, radii of curvature between 2 and 8 mm were obtained under wind speeds ranging from 2.7 to 21 m/s and generally unstable atmospheric stability conditions. The mean radii of curvature reveal a weak dependence on the wind velocity. Mean radii of curvature over clean and slick surfaces were also observed.