A Numerical Method for Studying Modulation Effects in Radar Observations of the Sea Surface

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 46; no. 11; pp. 3632 - 3636
• Main Authors: Guangdong Pan, Johnson, J.T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.10.2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied geophysics; Backscatter; Backscattering; Computational fluid dynamics; Cross sections; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Electromagnetic scattering; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid flow; Hydrodynamics; Internal geophysics; Marine; Marine geology; Mathematical models; Modulation; Numerical analysis; Radar cross section; Radar measurements; Radar remote sensing; Radar scattering; Sea measurements; Sea surface; sea surface electromagnetic scattering; Surface waves; surface water; electromagnetic waves; wave scattering; ocean; simulation; remote sensing; sea surface electromagnetic scattering; hydrodynamics; tilt; radar methods; backscattering
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2008.2000719

A numerical method for performing detailed investigations of modulation effects in sea backscattering is presented. The method is based on a combination of numerical hydrodynamic and electromagnetic codes as well as repeated simulations as the spectral content of the sea surface is varied. The results obtained can be useful in separating ldquotiltrdquo and hydrodynamic modulations in computed sea backscattering cross sections, and help to provide some insight into the need for ldquothree-scalerdquo modeling of sea surface returns. Sample results are presented to illustrate the basic process.