Impact on Sea-Surface Electromagnetic Scattering and Emission Modeling of Recent Progress on the Parameterization of Ocean Surface Roughness, Drag Coefficient, and Whitecap Coverage in High Wind Conditions

Ocean surface wind stress is the force generating ocean surface roughness and whitecaps. The surface wind stress is related to the surface wind speed by the drag coefficient. Consequently, the magnitude of roughness and whitecaps calculated from wind speed input depends on the applied drag coefficient formula, which remains uncertain especially for high wind conditions. Because roughness and whitecaps are two major components of the ocean surface response in microwave remote sensing, a clear understanding of the drag coefficient, ocean surface roughness, and whitecap coverage is critical to interpreting the microwave signals emitted or scattered from the ocean surface. In reverse, the microwave signals represent precious data sources of these ocean surface properties [surface wind stress (or equivalently the drag coefficient), surface roughness, and whitecaps] that are difficult to measure with traditional oceanographic instruments, especially in severe weather conditions. This article describes the improvement of ocean surface properties achieved by incorporating microwave remote sensing measurements. In essence, the global data of microwave monostatic and bistatic radar cross sections contribute to the revision of ocean surface roughness spectrum model, and microwave radiometer measurements in tropical cyclones provide clarification regarding the dependence on wind speed of the drag coefficient and whitecap coverage. In return, the calculated excess emissivities and scattering radar cross sections are improved from implementing the updated results of drag coefficient, whitecap coverage, and surface roughness in microwave emission and scattering models.