Study of Gulf Stream features with a multifrequency polarimetric SAR from the Space Shuttle

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 2495 - 2507
• Main Authors: Chubb, S.R., Askari, F., Donato, T.F., Romeiser, R., Ufermann, S., Cooper, A.L., Alpers, W., Mango, S.A., Jong-Sen Lee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-09-1999; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Applied geophysics; Current measurement; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Internal geophysics; L-band; Marine; Marine geology; Photothermal effects; Polarization; Radar cross section; Radar imaging; Radar polarimetry; Rough surfaces; Streaming media; Surface roughness; North Atlantic; Gulf Stream; AN, Atlantic, Gulf Stream; AN, North Atlantic, Gulf Stream; A, Atlantic, Gulf Stream; ocean currents; synthetic aperture radar; roughness; Atlantic Ocean; simulation; Space remote sensing; imagery; polarization
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/36.789645

Using simulations of radar cross section (RCS) based on wave-current interaction calculations, the authors investigate the origin of a prominent enhancement in L-band from signals that were transmitted and received, respectively, with horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization radar return. This was observed in imagery of the northern boundary of the Gulf Stream (GS) during the first Shuttle Radar Laboratory (SRL-1) mission. The calculations of surface roughness are based on a one-dimensional (1D) surface current model that closely resembles a current shear that was observed in in situ current measurements, taken at both sides of the GS at the time SRL-1 imaged the GS boundary. In agreement with trends observed in the imagery, significant enhancements in L-band HV polarization cross section occur in the neighborhood of the GS thermal boundary, relative to comparable vertical polarization (VV) cross section signatures at X-, C-, and L-band. The authors also find reasonably good agreement between the simulated and observed magnitudes of the GS signatures (based on calculations of wave action) using two different radar imaging models, and they provide an overview of a number of additional submesoscale features associated with the GS that were present in the image of the GS boundary.