SAR measurement of ocean sea surface wind and wave for operational ship routing

Safety of shipping is a growing concern. The causes of shipping casualties are various, while over 30% of the casualties are due to bad weather. Heavy sea state and severe weather conditions have caused the loss of more than 200 large cargo vessels within 20 years between 1981 and 2000. Remote sensing techniques, particularly the active microwave radar provides global sea surface observations for detecting heavy sea state and bad weather independent of clouds and sunlight and therefore it can contribute to shipping safety. In the present paper, based on a case analysis of ship accidents caused by adverse weather situation, we demonstrated the potential of using spaceborne remote sensing supporting for shipping security.