Despite of being the only sensor onboard satellites able to measure the wave directional spectrum, SAR has certain shortcomings, due to its aperture synthesis technique, that causes degradation in azimuth direction that introduces a sea state dependent cut-off beyond which SAR cannot sense the ocean surface waves. However, its unique capability to extract the 2D wave spectrum with global coverage, has motivated the interest of the scientific community. In this paper, the wave imaging mechanisms are discussed and the wave spectrum extracted from an ERS SAR PRI image is compared to a directional buoy moored nearby. The results are promising, showing the potential of the technique.
wind waves; Synthetic Aperture Radar SAR; wave directional spectrum
