On the Estimation of Wave Slope-and Height-Varnance Spectra from SAR Imagery

A procedure is described for using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery to estimate two-dimensional ocean wave slope-and height-variance spectra. The logic underpinning the procedure is based both on the results of the numerical simulation of SAR wave imagery and analytic descriptions of the SAR imaging process. The procedure, when applied to SAR imagery of waves acquired during the recent Shuttle Imaging Radar Mission (SIR-B), is shown to produce spectra that agree with independent measures of both the two-dimensional slope-and height-variance spectra. The implications of these results for future SAR missions aimed at measuring ocean waves are considered.