Ocean wave measurements by spaceborne SAR

In contrast to traditional ocean wave measurements, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with a high spatial resolution is a novel instrument which is capable of providing properties of wave fields for a large area remotely. It operates in microwave band and works even in bad weather condition. A model is developed based on SAR imaging mechanism of ocean waves for the retrievals of two-dimensional wave spectra and wave parameters. As a demonstration case, an ERS-1 SAR image is analyzed. Wave spectrum, wave height, wavelength and wave direction are calculated from this image. The comparison with in situ data shows that the error of wave height-and wave direction is 0.2m and 2degrees respectively.