Parametrisation of sea state from SAR images

An attempt is made to characterize the sea state as it is seen on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. To do so, a spectral analysis of the images is performed in order to extract relevant parameters of the sea swell, such as direction of propagation, orientation, and strength. Then a punctual statistical analysis of the surface roughness allows the completion of the previous set of parameters. An image´s gray-level distribution is computed assuming some hypothesis on the sea surface backscattering. It is shown, using the Bragg scattering model, that the shape parameter α of the derived K law is characteristic of the sea surface roughness. Using SEASAT SAR images, the discrimination nature of the aforementioned set of parameters is highlighted for some selected sea states