Ocean Wave Period Measurements Using S-Band Signals of Opportunity Reflections

Abstract

Ocean wave periods are estimated using measurements of S-band signals-of-opportunity reflections from the sea surface. The measurements were collected on an oil platform and show a time evolving Doppler centroid frequency and spectral width due to the vertical motion of ocean waves within the glistening zone observed. Previous results for estimating the significant wave height are also re-examined using the Doppler spectral width. For the one month dataset considered, the period of oscillations in the Doppler centroid frequency are found highly correlated ($\mathbf {R \approx 0.78}$ and $\mathbf {Bias \approx 1.02 (s)}$) to ocean wave period information from a nearby buoy.

Keywords

• Average wave period (APD)
• bistatic remote sensing
• ocean remote sensing
• reflectometry
• rough surface scattering
• significant wave height (SWH)