Estimation of significant wave height from X-band marine radar images

Radar images include abundant information about ocean waves. Sea state parameters and surface currents can be obtained by analyzing time series of radar images of the sea surface. Due to the non-linearity of the imaging mechanism of ocean waves, significant wave height (H_s) can not be determined directly from radar images. Applying a method to infer the H_s from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, the H_s can be estimated from marine radar images. Comparing the H_s obtained by this method with buoy data, the results show that it is feasible to obtain reliable data of the H_s from marine radar images.