Dependence of polarimetric Doppler spectra on breaking-wave energy

Breaking gravity waves are studied in a wave tank at small grazing angles (4.5/spl deg/-11/spl deg/) where all four polarization elements (HH, VV, HV, VH) are simultaneously measured. Temporally averaged Doppler spectra are obtained for mechanically-generated 4 m breaking waves of various energies. The authors describe the dependence on breaking-wave energy of the parameters describing the backscatter. The results of grazing angle dependence of the backscatter are also shown and discussed.