Radar backscattering from sea foam and spray

A radar backscattering model of sea foam and spray is considered The model suggested is based on a modified Mie theory describing resonance scattering and adsorption effects from polydisperse systems of air bubbles (foam) and water droplets (spray) in a wide range of microwave frequencies. Joint contributions of foam and spray in the backscattering coefficient are investigated as well. As a result of our modeling, it is shown that the backscattering coefficient depends on microstructure parameters - bubble and droplet size distributions, their volume concentrations, and geometry. In particular, variations of the backscattering coefficient due to joint impacts of foam and spray can be observed in the range of 3-5 dB at K- and X-bands. This allows us to provide direct remote sensing measurements of wave breaking fields, their statistics, and foam-spray parameters using high-resolution microwave radar and/or scatterometer.