Passive and Active L-Band Microwave Observations and Modeling of Ocean Surface Winds

L-band microwave backscatter and brightness temperature of sea surfaces acquired using the Passive/Active L-band Sensor during the High Ocean Wind campaign are reported in terms of their dependence on ocean surface wind speed and direction. We find that the L-band VV, HH, and HV radar backscatter da...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2010-08, Vol.48 (8), p.3087-3100
Main Authors: Yueh, Simon H, Dinardo, Steve J, Fore, Alexander G, Li, Fuk K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied geophysics
Backscatter
Brightness temperature
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Internal geophysics
L-band
Marine geology
Meteorology
Microwave remote sensing
Microwave sensors
ocean salinity
Ocean temperature
ocean wind
Phased arrays
Radar
radiometer
Sea surface
Temperature sensors
Wind
Wind speed
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:L-band microwave backscatter and brightness temperature of sea surfaces acquired using the Passive/Active L-band Sensor during the High Ocean Wind campaign are reported in terms of their dependence on ocean surface wind speed and direction. We find that the L-band VV, HH, and HV radar backscatter data increase by 6-7 dB from 5 to 25 m/s wind speed at a 45° incidence angle. The data suggest the validity of Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) HH model function between 5 and 15 m/s wind speeds, but show that the extrapolation of PALSAR model at above 20 m/s wind speeds overpredicts A 0 and a 1 coefficients. There is wind direction dependence in the radar backscatter with about 4 dB differences between upwind and crosswind observations at 24 m/s wind speed for VV and HH. The passive brightness temperatures show about a 5-K change for T V and a 7-K change for T H for a wind speed increasing from 5 to 25 m/s. Circle flight data suggest a wind direction response of about 1-2 K in T V and T H at 14 and 24 m/s wind speeds. The L-band microwave data show excellent linear correlation with the surface wind speed with a correlation better than 0.95. The results support the use of L-band radar data for estimating the wind-driven excess brightness temperature of sea surfaces. The data also support the applications of L-band microwave signals for high-resolution (kilometer scale) observation of ocean surface winds under high wind conditions (10-28 m/s).
ISSN:0196-2892
1558-0644
DOI:10.1109/TGRS.2010.2045002