ERS-1 SAR views the ocean: an assessment

Radar images acquired over the ocean by the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) aboard the First European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 delineate oceanic as well as atmospheric phenomena. The oceanic phenomena visible on ERS-1 SAR images include surface waves, internal waves, eddies, oceanic fronts, underwater bottom topography, and surface slicks. The atmospheric phenomena include katabatic wind fields, internal gravity waves, atmospheric vortex rows (Karman vortex streets) behind islands, atmospheric boundary layer rolls, and convective cells above the sea. Examples of ERS-1 SAR images showing sea surface manifestations of mesoscale oceanic and atmospheric phenomena are presented and interpreted in terms of oceanic and atmospheric models