X-band Observations of Waves, Algorithm Development, and Validation High Resolution Wave-Air-Sea Interaction DRI

: Our goal is to better understand physics of the air-sea interface including ocean wave generation, wave propagation, and air-sea fluxes. The potential to generate deterministic descriptions of the ocean s surface at elevated sea states using both modern observational techniques and computationally intensive, nonlinear wave models now exists. Investments in research to successfully validate and improve these techniques and models will improve the planning and execution of at-sea naval operations and further our understanding of air-sea interaction processes. While signatures of the sea surface (sea clutter) are visible in the near range ( 3 nm) of any nautical X-band radar image, this information is generally filtered by the radar due to its design for navigation purposes. The sea clutter is a result of the backscatter at X-band principally composed of the Bragg scatter from O(1) cm scale capillary-gravity waves which are modulated by the underlying long ocean waves. As a result, sea clutter is a rich signal which contains information about the 2-D structure of ocean waves. Successful measurement and interpretation of the clutter may lead to an ability to reconstruct ocean wave heights over the domain observed by the radar. The objectives of this program are to research our ability to generate phase-resolved maps of the ocean sea surface. We also have the secondary objectives to use radar to retrieve environmental variables including currents, winds, Langmuir cells, and breaking waves.