OCEAN WAVE IMAGING MECHANISMS BY AIRBORNE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADARS (PI-SAR) IN AZIMUTH DIRECTION

Abstract

wave imaging mechanisms were investigated using airborne Pi-SAR (Polarimetric-Interferometric SAR) X-band VV images of ocean waves around the Miyake Island at approximately 180 km south from Tokyo, Japan. Two images of a same scene were produced at approximately 20 min. interval from two directions at right angles. One image shows dominant range travelling waves, but the other image shows a different wave pattern. This difference can be caused by the different image modulations of RCS and velocity bunching. In this study, 18 subimages are extracted, and the directional wave spectra are compared to each other of the two different areas.