Measurements of ocean forward scatter with an ultrawideband radar

Abstract

This paper presents an experiment description, along with data examples, for ultrawideband radar measurements of low grazing angle forward scatter associated with a test target mounted above a wind disturbed sea surface. The measurement radar used subnanosecond transmit pulses (0.15 ns, 3 dB pulsewidth) at a 9 GHz center frequency to achieve resolutions as fine as 2 cm in the range dimension. This resolution was sufficient to fully resolve direct and multipath (both single and double bounce) contributions to the signal reflecting from a tower mounted retro reflector. The geometry presented a nominal 3 degree grazing angle for forward scatter. Dual polarized data examples, taken for a variety of wind conditions, highlight changes in the magnitude and the location of the scatter components with time.