Comparison of Shuttle Imaging Radar‐B ocean wave image spectra with linear model predictions based on aircraft measurements

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Abstract
During October 1984, coincident shuttle imaging radar‐B synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and wave measurements from airborne instrumentation were acquired. The two‐dimensional wave spectrum was measured by both a radar ocean wave spectrometer and a surface contour radar aboard the aircraft. In this paper we compare two‐dimensional SAR image intensity variance spectra with these independent measures of ocean wave spectra to verify previously proposed models of the relationship between such SAR image spectra and ocean wave spectra. The results illustrate both the functional relationship between SAR image spectra and ocean wave spectra and the limitations imposed on the imaging of short‐wavelength, azimuth‐traveling waves.