Ocean Wave Information Retrieval Using Simulated Compact Polarized SAR from Radarsat-2

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the capability of compact polarized (CP) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to retrieve ocean wave field parameters. Souyris’ and Nord’s algorithms are used to carry out the reconstruction of CP SAR pseudo quad-polarized data for the ocean surface under both the circular transmit linear receive (CTLR) and π/4 mode. The results show that, for the CP reconstruction, Nord’s algorithm has a better convergence ability than Souyris’. In addition, the investigation of the reconstruction accuracy shows that the CTLR mode is superior to the π/4 mode, in terms of ocean surface reconstruction. It is, therefore, concluded that the reconstructed parameters of CP CTLR mode data by Nord’s algorithm adapt to retrieve ocean wave information. The ocean wave slope spectrum and other main wave parameters are also calculated from reconstructed CP data and compared with measurements from in situ National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) matched-up buoys. Comparison of CP SAR-based wave field information with buoy outputs also shows good agreement in the case of dominate wave height, wave direction, and wave period, with biases of 0.36 m, 17.96°, and 0.88 s, respectively.