Chapter 13
Radar Applications
Malcolm L. Heron, William G. Pichel and Scott F. Heron
Abstract Active remote sensing by radar relies dominantly on the interaction
between electromagnetic waves and sea surface waves, being capillary waves for
microwave radars and surface gravity waves for radars operating below about
1 GHz. High Frequency and Very High Frequency radars provide high quality
mapping of surface currents and some systems map wave heights on grid scales
50 m to 20 km. Scatterometers are microwave radar systems that map surface
winds and sea roughness on large scales of 1,000 km
2 . Synthetic aperture radar
makes observations at very fine resolution scales of a few meters, and is used to
measure wave height and detect changes in surface roughness. Radar remote
M. L. Heron (&)
Marine Geophysical Laboratory, School of Environmental and Earth Sciences,
James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
e-mail: mal.heron@ieee.org
M. L. Heron
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
W. G. Pichel
Center for Satellite Applications and Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, NCWCP, E/RA3, Room 3229, 5030 University Research Ct,
College Park, MD 30740-3818, USA
e-mail: william.g.pichel@noaa.gov
S. F. Heron
Coral Reef Watch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
675 Ross River Rd, Townville, QLD 4817, Australia
e-mail: scott.heron@noaa.gov
S. F. Heron
Marine Geophysical Laboratory, Physics Department, School of Engineering and Physical
Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
J. A. Goodman et al. (eds.), Coral Reef Remote Sensing,
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9292-2_13,
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
341
Radar Applications
Malcolm L. Heron, William G. Pichel and Scott F. Heron
Abstract Active remote sensing by radar relies dominantly on the interaction
between electromagnetic waves and sea surface waves, being capillary waves for
microwave radars and surface gravity waves for radars operating below about
1 GHz. High Frequency and Very High Frequency radars provide high quality
mapping of surface currents and some systems map wave heights on grid scales
50 m to 20 km. Scatterometers are microwave radar systems that map surface
winds and sea roughness on large scales of 1,000 km
2 . Synthetic aperture radar
makes observations at very fine resolution scales of a few meters, and is used to
measure wave height and detect changes in surface roughness. Radar remote
M. L. Heron (&)
Marine Geophysical Laboratory, School of Environmental and Earth Sciences,
James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
e-mail: mal.heron@ieee.org
M. L. Heron
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
W. G. Pichel
Center for Satellite Applications and Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, NCWCP, E/RA3, Room 3229, 5030 University Research Ct,
College Park, MD 30740-3818, USA
e-mail: william.g.pichel@noaa.gov
S. F. Heron
Coral Reef Watch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
675 Ross River Rd, Townville, QLD 4817, Australia
e-mail: scott.heron@noaa.gov
S. F. Heron
Marine Geophysical Laboratory, Physics Department, School of Engineering and Physical
Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
J. A. Goodman et al. (eds.), Coral Reef Remote Sensing,
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9292-2_13,
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
341