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Synthetic aperture radar observation of ocean roughness from rolls in an unstable marine boundary layer
Author(s) -
Thompson T. W.,
Liu W. T.,
Weissman D. E.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl010i012p01172
Subject(s) - geology , radar , synthetic aperture radar , radar imaging , remote sensing , space based radar , geodesy , meteorology , bistatic radar , geography , telecommunications , computer science
Simultaneous synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and cloud photographic observations of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida were made from a high‐altitude aircraft when there was an unstable marine boundary layer. The synthetic aperture radar images show unusual kilometer‐sized features on the ocean surface which are related to clouds. The ocean near shore was cloud‐free and had no radar features, while from 30 to 330 km offshore there were clouds and prominent kilometer‐sized features in the SAR image. These radar features are most prominent when the radar was looking upwind, are less prominent when the radar was looking downwind, and disappear entirely when the radar was looking crosswind. Since ocean radar echo strengths are believed to be controlled primarily by ocean waves satisfying the Bragg relation, these radar features most likely resulted from local enhancements of short gravity waves with 17‐ to 34‐cm wavelengths, which in turn are surface expressions of roll convections in a kilometer‐thick unstable marine boundary layer.