NOAA CoastWatch RADARSAT SAR coastal monitoring applications demonstration

A demonstration of coastal ocean applications of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is scheduled to begin in the fall of 1999 providing a select group of operational agencies in Alaska with near real-time SAR data along with derived winds and vessel positions. The purpose of the demonstration is to evaluate the usefulness and validate the accuracy of derived SAR products in a pre-operational context. A Constant False Alarm Rate algorithm is used for vessel detection and a modified CMOD4 scatterometer algorithm is used to derive wind estimates.