Polarimetric SAR image signatures of the ocean and gulf stream features
- Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (United States). Remote Sensing Div.
Polarimetric signatures and related polarimetric properties of microwave ocean backscatter have been analyzed for both the ambient ocean and for ocean features such as those associated with the Gulf Stream. Interpretation of the polarimetric signatures for the ocean surface was accomplished using a tilted-Bragg theoretical model. This model was used to calculate the EM fields, to second order, necessary to compute the full Stokes matrix and, ultimately, the polarimetric signature. The polarimetric studies led to a technique for potentially improving the visibility of all azimuthally traveling waves in real-aperture radar (RAR) images and, very long waves in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images. This technique utilizes linear polarization signatures to maximize the instrument sensitivity to azimuthally traveling waves. Wave tilts create a modulation of the cell polarization orientation which, in turn, modulates the backscatter. Critical to the success of this technique are the properties that ocean polarimetric signatures are sharply peaked (i.e., returns are highly polarized). The polarimetric contribution to the overall modulation transfer function has also been evaluated.
- OSTI ID:
- 143832
- Journal Information:
- IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 31; ISSN IGRSD2; ISSN 0196-2892
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The effect of range-to-velocity ratio on simulated SAR images of ocean wind waves
On the theory of SAR ocean wave imaging