Simulation and optimization of the performance of space-borne radar ocean wave spectrometer

In this paper, a simulation method is presented to analyze and to optimize the performance of a real aperture radar system for measuring oceanic directional wave spectra, taking into account of data processing parameters. The results show that spaceborne radar ocean wave spectrometer (SB-ROWS) can measure spectra of fully developed waves with significant wave heights (SWH) over approximately 2.0 meter and swell surface under low wind conditions. The minimum detectable wavelength in the study is about 40 m. The wavelength resolution for a wavelength of 200 m is better than 30 m, and the directional resolution after averaging is better than 20°.