Air/sea/land interaction in the coastal zone seen by satellite RAR and SAR

Satellite real aperture radar (RAR) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images having different spatial resolution together with relevant remote and in situ data are used to study the specific features of the coastal environment off Taiwan, the southern Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. Radar signatures of the atmospheric (lee waves, orographic vortices, wind shadows, etc.) and oceanic (island wakes, eddies, etc.) phenomena express themselves in radar images via spatial variations in the surface wind, current and film fields. They change the surface roughness and hence radar image intensity.