Joint along-across track interferometry of ocean waves

In the framework of the EuroROSE project high resolution ocean wave, wind and current fields were measured at the North Coast of Spain by simultaneous data acquisitions of spaceborne, airborne, and in situ instruments. The objective of the project was to provide a guidance system for ships entering the harbour of Gijon, by monitoring and forecasting wind, waves and currents. This paper presents first results of a new airborne three antenna interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) system which provides information on both sea surface elevation and motion. The system transmits and receives signals with a combination of three antennas, whereby two are placed along flight direction and the third in across flight direction. This configuration allows, for the first time, to acquire along and across track InSAR data simultaneously. The system was flown in different flight patterns with simultaneous measurements of directional wave spectra, wind and currents fields taken by the HF-radar WERA, the radar based wave monitoring system WaMoSII, the ERS-2 SAR and a waverider buoy.