Progress in SAR ocean wave spectral simulation and inversion using ERS-1 and Almaz satellite imagery and in-situ data from the Grand Banks experiment

ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Almaz satellite SAR imagery were collected on November 23, 1991 at 14:14 GMT and 15:20 GMT over the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland at N46.5° latitude and W51.0° longitude. A CV580 aircraft SAR was flown under the ERS-1 satellite. Two Wavec(TM) heave, pitch and roll buoys were deployed by Bedford Institute of Oceanography from the research vessel CSS Hudson which was also equipped with two navigation radars modified for marine studies. Fourier domain techniques for data fusion have been applied to surface wavenumber spectra from the marine radars and Wavec buoys to define a best in-situ estimate of the surface wave energy density. Methods for determining the distribution of wave height over the spectrally broad azimuth travelling wave field have assimilated SAR imagery and results from the Canadian Spectral Ocean Wave Model (CSOWM) that has hindcast the surface wave field, based on the wind field generated by the regional weather model of the Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC)