Estimation of wave-induced contribution to Sentinel-1 Doppler shift observations

Author(s):  
Artem Moiseev ◽  
Harald Johnsen ◽  
Johnny Johannessen

<p>The Doppler Centroid Anomaly (DCA) registered by microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) contains information about ocean surface motion in the radar line-of-sight direction. The recorded signal is associated with the motion induced by the total wavefield (i.e., both wind waves and swell) and underlying ocean surface currents. Hence, accurate estimates of the wave-induced contribution to the observed DCA is required in order to obtain reliable information about underlying ocean surface current. In this study, we develop an empirical geophysical model function for the estimation of the wave-induced DCA. The study is based on two months of Sentinel-1 SAR Wave mode (WV) DCA observations collocated with wind field at 10m height from the ECMWF model and sea state information from the WAVEWATCH III model.</p><p>Analysis of two months of observations acquired over land showed that thanks to the novel Sentinel-1 DCA calibration, the uncertainty in the data does not exceed 3Hz (corresponding to a radial velocity of 0.21/014 m/s in the near/far range. The relationship between the DCA and the near-surface wind is in agreement with previously reported findings under the assumption of fully developed seas; the DCA is about 24% of the range wind speed at 23° incidence angle and decreasing (up to 50%) with increasing incidence angle from 23° to 36°. However, the difference between upwind (i.e., the wind blows towards antenna) and downwind (i.e., wind blows away from the antenna) configurations is inconsistent from study to study. Reliable information about the wave field indeed helps to describe the spread in the DCA, especially at low and moderate wind speeds, and when the ocean surface is dominated by the remotely generated swell.</p><p>The CDOP model is used as a baseline for estimating the wind-wave-induced Doppler shift. Retraining of the CDOP model for the Sentinel-1 SAR observations (CDOP-S) yielded a significantly better fit. Then, we extended the GMF with parameters of the wavefield (significant wave height, mean wave period and direction) in the moment of SAR acquisition. Combining information about near-surface wind and ocean surface wave fields also considerably improves the accuracy of the wave-induced Doppler shift estimates. In turn,  the accuracy of the ocean surface current retrievals are improved as demonstrated by the promising agreement with the near-surface ocean surface current climatology based on multiyear drifter observations.</p>

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 7828
Author(s):  
Jochen Horstmann ◽  
Jan Bödewadt ◽  
Ruben Carrasco ◽  
Marius Cysewski ◽  
Jörg Seemann ◽  
...  

Marine radars are increasingly popular for monitoring meteorological and oceanographic parameters such as ocean surface wind, waves and currents as well as bathymetry and shorelines. Within this paper a coherent on receive marine radar is introduced, which is based on an incoherent off the shelf pulsed X-band radar. The main concept of the coherentization is based on the coherent on receive principle, where the coherence is achieved by measuring the phase of the transmitted pulse from a leak in the radar circulator, which then serves as a reference phase for the transmitted pulse. The Doppler shift frequency can be computed from two consecutive pulse-pairs in the time domain or from the first moment of the Doppler spectrum inferred by means of a short time Fast Fourier Transform. From the Doppler shift frequencies, radial speed maps of the backscatter of the ocean surface are retrieved. The resulting backscatter intensity and Doppler speed maps are presented for horizontal as well as vertical polarization, and discussed with respect to meteorological and oceanographic applications.


Author(s):  
Adil Rasheed ◽  
Jakob Kristoffer Süld ◽  
Mandar Tabib

Accurate prediction of near surface wind and wave height are important for many offshore activities like fishing, boating, surfing, installation and maintenance of marine structures. The current work investigates the use of different methodologies to make accurate predictions of significant wave height and local wind. The methodology consists of coupling an atmospheric code HARMONIE and a wave model WAM. Two different kinds of coupling methodologies: unidirectional and bidirectional coupling are tested. While in Unidirectional coupling only the effects of atmosphere on ocean surface are taken into account, in bidirectional coupling the effects of ocean surface on the atmosphere are also accounted for. The predicted values of wave height and local wind at 10m above the ocean surface using both the methodologies are compared against observation data. The results show that during windy conditions, a bidirectional coupling methodology has better prediction capability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Elyouncha ◽  
Leif E. B. Eriksson

<p><span>Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has become an essential component in ocean remote sensing due it’s </span><span>high</span> <span>sensitivity</span><span> to sea surface dynamics and its high spatial resolution. </span><span>The ALOS-</span><span>2 SAR</span><span> data are </span> underutilized <span>for</span><span> ocean surface wind and current retrieval. Althou</span><span>g</span><span>h the primary goals of the </span><span>ALOS-2</span><span> mission are focused on land applications, the extension of the satellite scenes over the coast</span><span>al areas</span><span> offers an opportunity for ocean applications. Th</span><span>e</span><span> underutilization </span><span>of ALOS-2 data </span><span>is mainly due to the fact that at low radar frequencies, e.g. L-band, the sensitivity of the radar scattering coefficient to wind speed and the sensitivity of the Doppler frequency shift to sea surface velocity is lower than at higher frequencies, e.g. C- </span><span>and</span><span> X-</span><span>band</span><span>. </span><span>This is also due to the fact that most of ALOS-2 images are acquired in HH or HV polarization while the VV polarization is often preferred in ocean applications due the higher signal to noise ratio. </span></p><p>The wind speed is retrieved from Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2 using the existing empirical C- and L-band geophysical model functions. For Sentinel-1, the Doppler frequency shift provided in the OCN product is used. For ALOS-2, the Doppler frequency shift is estimated from the single look complex data using the pulse-pair processing method. The estimated Doppler shift converted to the surface radial velocity and the velocity is calibrated using land as a reference. The estimated L-band Doppler shift and surface velocity is compared to the C-band Doppler shift provided in the Sentinel-1 OCN product. Due the difference in the local time of ascending node (about 6 hours at the equator) of the two satellites, a direct pixel-by-pixel comparison is not possible, i.e. the wind and surface current can not be assumed to be constant during such a large time difference. Thus, the retrieved wind from each sensor is compared separately to model data and in-situ observations.</p><p>In this paper, the quality of the wind speed retrieved from the L-band SAR (ALOS-2) in coastal areas is assessed and compared to the C-band SAR (Sentinel-1). In addition, the feasibility of the surface current retrieval from the L-band Doppler frequency shift is investigated and also compared to Sentinel-1. Examples will be shown and discussed. This opens an opportunity for synergy between L-band and C-band SAR missions to increase the spatial and temporal coverage, which is one of the main limitations of SAR application in ocean remote sensing.</p>


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