The dependence of the microwave radar cross section on ocean surface variables during the FASINEX experiment

A measurement program is in progress to develop more precise relationships between the microwave (Ku-band) radar cross section and the ocean surface variables that affect the roughness and reflectivity. An extensive data set was obtained during the Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment during the winter of 1986 in the Atlantic south of Bermuda. The author focuses on the airborne scatterometer measurements that were coincident with surface wind speed and stress measurements from aircraft and ships, and the directional surface-wave spectrum.<>