Multipath scattering in ultrawide-band radar sea spikes

This paper presents sea scatter data collected with an ultrawide-band (UWB) polarimetric radar system that indicates that multipath scattering plays an important role in the generation of sea spikes. The radar system used in this study produces short pulses with a bandwidth of approximately 3 GHz centered at 9 GHz for a range resolution of approximately 4 cm. Pulse-to-pulse switching allows collection of the microwave echoes produced by all four combinations of linear transmit and receive polarizations [vertical-transmit vertical-receive (VV), horizontal-transmit horizontal-receive (HH), horizontal-transmit vertical receive (HV), and vertical-transmit horizontal-receive (VH)] each of which is collected by a sampling oscilloscope utilizing equivalent time sampling. In June 1996, upwind sea scatter data at grazing angles of 10°, 20°, and 30° were collected while the system was deployed on a research pier on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. An analysis of the strongest echoes (sea spikes) from this data set is presented and discussed. First, the cumulative distribution functions are presented. Second, an increase of approximately 5 dB is shown to occur in the polarization ratio (HH/VV) of the strongest echoes as the grazing angle decreases from 30° to 10°. Third, differences in the spatial and spectral characteristics of the VV and HH spikes are described. Through comparisons with laboratory results and a simple scattering model, these observations are explained by the presence of a multibounce scattering mechanism. The use of the model to extract wave height from the sea-spike frequency response is also explored