Title :
Radar signatures of the ocean surface and global wind fields measured by the ERS-1 scatterometer
Author :
Wismann, Volkmat ; Boehnke, Kai
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Oceanogr., Hamburg Univ., Germany
Abstract :
A C-band scatterometer is presently flying aboard the First European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) which measures the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the ocean surface globally with a resolution of 50 km by 50 km. A data set of one year of these NRCS measurements is used to investigate seasonal variations of the radar signatures of the global wind field and of the upwelling region in the Gulf of Guinea. The relative low backscattered radar power in this upwelling region can be explained by the stable air-sea interface and the damping of short gravity-capillary waves due to natural sea surface slicks present in regions of high biological productivity
Keywords :
atmospheric techniques; geophysical techniques; ocean waves; oceanographic regions; oceanographic techniques; remote sensing by radar; wind; ERS-1 scatterometer; Gulf of Guinea; North Atlantic; SAR C-band microwave SHF; atmosphere; global wind field; low backscattered radar power; measurement technique; natural sea surface slick; ocean sea surface ocean wave wind; radar remote sensing; radar signature; season; seasonal variation; short gravity capillary wave; stable air-sea interface; upwelling region; Damping; Oceans; Radar cross section; Radar measurements; Radar remote sensing; Remote sensing; Satellites; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Spaceborne radar;
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1993. IGARSS '93. Better Understanding of Earth Environment., International
Conference_Location :
Tokyo
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1240-6
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.1993.322133
