Low cost CW scatterometers for field and laboratory measurements

Advances in microwave devices in the last decade have facilitated the ability to produce low cost continuous wave (CW) scatterometers. Returns from CW radars can be analyzed temporally, to yield characteristics such as radar cross section (RCS), or transformed to yield a myriad of spectral information. Because of the CW radar's low cost and versatility, several CW scatterometers are being used to study the radar backscatter from water waves in laboratory wave tanks and in open ocean experiments. These scatterometers can be characterized by their use of either a Gunn diode oscillator and microwave transceiver or a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and discrete microwave components. The design of three transceiver based radars and one VCO based radar is presented along with the governing CW radar theory.