Roll-vortex signatures in SAR imagery of the ocean surface and simultaneous in situ turbulence measurements taken during the ONR/MBL ARI

P.D. Mourand et al. (1996) is a recent study that addresses the source of O(km) streaks in SAR images of the ocean surface. Its contribution was to successfully compare nearly-simultaneous AVHRR and SAR images of a region undergoing a cold air outbreak. Both the cloud patterns in the AVHRR image and the radar backscatter streaks in the SAR image were of the same scale and orientation, and had the same fetch-dependent structure. The cloud patterns were commensurate with existing studies of the fetch-dependent evolution of atmospheric roll vortices. Up until now, this successful comparison of SAR streaks and cloud streets, and the identification of the cloud street patterns as being consistent with atmospheric roll vortices, has been the strongest study supporting the hypothesis first offered by Gerling (1985) that SAR streaks can be caused by atmospheric roll vortices. The present work, based on a case study to be published with additional data analysis by Dr. Bernard Waiter of NorthWest Research Associates, and a recent, similar study, offer the first direct and definitive confirmation that SAR streaks can be caused by atmospheric roll vortices