A basis for SAR oceanography: theory and experiment

Abstract

A comparison of synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) sea images generated by a simulation program implementing a two-scale theory and by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory L-band SAR flow in the TOWARD oceanographic experiment is discussed. A subimage cross-correlation technique estimates the best image focus. The sea surface imagery is composed of two scales, a long-wave ensemble and a short-wave ensemble, and both gravity waves. The appropriate two-scale hydrodynamic and electromagnetic scattering approximate models are combined with a model for SAR imaging of a time-variant, extended scene. The resulting model is complicated and generally requires a simulation, which generates the complex, high-resolution SAR image to reveal its full nature. The two-scale theory's predictions agree well with the actual measurements, including the discriminating prediction that the best focus correction is proportional to the long wave's phase velocity.<>