Study on Radar Scattering Characteristics of Breaking Wave

To understand the radar scattering characteristics from breaking wave based on field experiment measurement are of great benefit for ocean remote sensing and ocean target recognition. It is well known that waves originating from deep water tend to break near the shore due to the shallowness of the water. In this study, breaking waves caused by shallow water depth near shore were used to investigate the radar scattering mechanisms associated with wave breaking. An Ultra-wideband radar C-band radar backscatter measurements was conducted at incident angles ranging from 20° to 60° with both horizontal polarization (HH-Pol) and vertical polarization (VV-Pol). Our research encompassed the investigation of normalized radar cross section (NRCS), and the Doppler characteristics of breaking waves. The experimental results indicated a substantial increase in radar returns, and the HH-to-VV polarization ratio approached unity near the breaking crests. In addition, the frequency shift and the band width of the Doppler spectrum of the scattered fields from breaking waves are both increasing. And the Doppler spectrum have multiple spectral peaks due to the stronger scattering intensity and higher velocity of the breaking waves.