Stationary “cross-track” interferometry for ocean wave measurement

Knowing the relationship between ocean wave characteristics and radar returns is important in interpreting the data from scatterometers and altimeters. This paper describes a new method of characterizing this relationship using the methods of cross-track interferometry in a stationary instrument. The authors´ method uses a real aperture interferometer on a platform with a vertical baseline to infer the wave height at each point. This instrument will be coupled with altimeters and scatterometers to study the relationship between the shape of the waves and the backscatter to each type of instrument in a future tower experiment. The authors describe the interferometric instrument and analyze it through numerical simulations