On the extraction of atmospheric structure from synthetic aperture radar imagery

When the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) is statically unstable, momentum flux towards the sea surface is largely accomplished within convective downdrafts while momentum flux upwards is largely accomplished within convective updrafts. In addition, it has been shown that within individual updraft and downdraft events, the momentum flux is asymmetric along the axis of the mean wind. Larger positive (negative) momentum flux is found along the down-mean-wind edge of downdrafts (updrafts). This asymmetry in momentum flux across an updraft/downdraft couplet can result in asymmetry in the generation of cm-scale gravity waves beneath the bases of updraft/ downdraft couplets. C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is sensitive to cm-scale sea surface roughening and therefore provides a basis for remote sensing.