A Doppler knife-beam radar altimeter concept for novel sea state parameters

This paper extends our theoretical and experimental researches on microwave backscattering at small incidence angles as applied to remote sensing of the ocean. A new concept of a Doppler radar with a knife-beam antenna pattern is proposed. With a nadir-pointing rotating antenna the radar will be able to measure a number of key sea state parameters previously unavailable, such as the long wave slope, the direction of wave propagation. Preliminary theoretical analysis and numerical simulations predict that in a space-borne scenario, signals may be isolated for scattering cells of the order 14/spl times/14 km over a swath approximately 250 km wide.