An ultra wide band radar for the study of air/sea interaction

While wind scatterometry is a well developed technique, further research into the geophysical model function relating radar backscatter to the near-surface wind vector is needed. To support such research the authors have built a tower-based radar scatterometer system capable of directly measuring both the ocean radar backscatter (σ°) and the long wave field simultaneously in order to study the modulation of σ° by long gravity waves as a function of environmental parameters. Operational characteristics of the instrument include (1) a continuous, very wide operational bandwidth (2-18 GHz) and (2) a frequency-independent antenna illumination pattern. Rapidly scanning the operational bandwidth provides essentially instantaneous σ° measurements as a function of frequency. A Δk technique is used to measure the long wave spectrum. An extended field experiment is planned for 1994. A rich data set containing a variety of conditions is anticipated to support research in ocean scattering and air/sea interaction