Marine radar ocean wave retrieval’s dependency on range and azimuth

• Published in: Ocean dynamics Vol. 64; no. 7; pp. 999 - 1018
• Main Authors: Lund, Björn, Collins, Clarence O., Graber, Hans C., Terrill, Eric, Herbers, Thomas H. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: 2013; Alberta; Atmospheric Sciences; Canada October 27 - November 1; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Geophysics/Geodesy; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Ocean waves; Oceanic analysis; Oceanography; Radar; Topical Collection on the 13th International Workshop on Wave Hindcasting and Forecasting in Banff; Wave analysis; Wave direction; Wave power; INE, USA, California; Marine X-band radar; Shipboard wave measurements; Remote sensing; Ocean waves
• ISSN: 1616-7341; 1616-7228
• DOI: 10.1007/s10236-014-0725-6

The strength of the surface wave signal in marine X-band radar (MR) images strongly depends on range and azimuth (i.e., the angle between antenna look and peak wave direction). Traditionally, MR wave analysis is carried out in a set of rectangular windows covering the radar field of view (FOV). The FOV is typically partially obstructed, e.g., due to the coastline or ship superstructures. Especially for ships that are subject to regular course changes, this results in an increased variability or error associated with wave parameters. Using MR measurements from R/P FLIP, acquired off California during the 2010 US Office of Naval Research (ONR) high resolution air–sea interaction (Hi-Res) experiment, this study quantifies the dependency of the radar-based 2D wave spectrum and parameters on range and azimuth. With the help of reference data from a nearby Datawell Waverider buoy, we propose empirical methods to remove the dependency and we illustrate their efficacy.