An improved algorithm for phase-resolved sea surface reconstruction from X-band marine radar images

Abstract

Abstract We present a modified methodology for phase-resolved surface wave reconstruction from incoherent X-band marine radar images. The method is based on the linear wave theory and uses the linear dispersion relation to extract the valuable signals associated with gravity waves. A parameter optimization of the proposed modification is performed based on simulated synthetic radar images. The quantitative comparisons in the accuracy of the standard and modified reconstruction methods are made for both simulated and real radar images. The correlation coefficient between reconstructed and true wave elevations is improved up to 0.9–0.92 for the present modified method from 0.69 to 0.74 for the standard method for the simulated sea surfaces. The wave spectra reconstructed from the real X-band radar measurements are in good agreement with those obtained from the independent point measurement by Miros RangeFinder for both unimodal and bimodal seas.