Measurement of Sea Surface by Means of Microwave Altimeters: A Computer Simulation for System Evaluation

This paper describes a computer simulation of a radar altimeter for use in sea wave profile measurement. The simulation forms part of a wider study being carried out by the National Physical Laboratory, Division of Maritime Science. (Shortly to become the Institute of Marine Science). The particular merits and difficulties of the radar altimeter for this application are discussed and comparison made with available alternatives. The basic programming technique employed is to first simulate the impulse response of the radar above a specified sea. The transient response for any transmitted pulse shape is then found using the convolution integral. This transient response can then be applied to a simulated receiver characteristic in order to predict the performance of the instrument.