Application of a new algorithm using Doppler information to retrieve complex wind fields over the Black Sea from ENVISAT SAR images
Several algorithms have been proposed to retrieve near-surface wind fields from C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired over the ocean. They mainly differ in the way they retrieve the wind direction. Conventionally, the wind direction is taken from atmospheric models or
is extracted from the linear features sometimes visible in SAR images. Recently, a new wind retrieval algorithm has been proposed, which also includes the Doppler shift induced by motions of the sea surface. In this article, we apply three wind retrieval algorithms, including the one using
Doppler information, to three complex wind events encountered over the Black Sea and compare the SAR-derived wind fields with model wind fields calculated using the high-resolution weather research and forecasting (WRF) model. It is shown that the new algorithm is very efficient in resolving
the 180° ambiguity in the wind direction, which is often a problem in the streak-based wind retrieval algorithms. However, the Doppler-based algorithm only yields good results for wind directions that have a significant component in the look direction of the SAR antenna. Furthermore, it
is dependent on good separation of the contributions to the Doppler shift induced by surface currents and wind-related effects (wind drift and wind-sea components of the ocean wave spectrum). We conclude that an optimum wind retrieval algorithm should consist of a combination of the algorithms
based on linear features and Doppler information.
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Institute of Oceanography, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany 2: Laboratoire d’Océanographie Spatiale, IFREMER, Plouzané, France 3: Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum, Geesthacht, Germany 4: P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 5: Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Sevastopol, Russia
Publication date: 01 February 2015
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