A comparison study between SAR derived wave information and wave modelling results in coastal zone

Three methods for mapping swell in the coastal zone from SAR imagery are presented. The first one gives accurate large scale estimates of swell wavenumber and wave height, the second one maps the swell crests and small scale wave height variations, and the last method produces filtered and calibrated images of SAR swell modulation using recursive wavelet transforms. Comparisons of SAR-derived parameters and wave modelling results are shown for three experimental cases. A good agreement is generally found. However imagery artefacts occur when swell shortens and deviates from the range direction as it propagates over varying topography.