Estimation of ocean wave spectra from microwave backscatter and emissivity measurements

The microwave reflectivity of the ocean surface is determined mainly by the surface roughness or wave spectrum. Since direct measurement of the wave spectrum at centimeter wavelengths is very difficult, microwave measurements are currently the largest source of information for this region of the spectrum. This paper discusses a procedure to determine a form for the equilibrium spectrum that is consistent with backscatter measurements over a range of incidence angles and look directions, and presents results using the backscatter data summarized by the CMOD4 model function.