Ocean wave measurement by the along-track and cross-track interferometric SAR

Abstract:
National institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) developed the along-track interferometry function on the second-generation X-band air-borne SAR system (Π-SAR X2). The wave height distribution can be estimated from the sea surface velocity measured by the along-track interferometric SAR (AT-InSAR). In addition, the cross-track interferometric SAR (CT-InSAR) signals can be generated by synthesizing the receiving signals measured by the forward and after antennas of the AT-InSAR, and interference fringes on the earth surface can be calculated. In this study, the wave height distribution estimated by the AT-InSAR and CT-InSAR is evaluated by the comparison between the wave height distribution measured by the AT-InSAR and CT-InSAR simultaneously.