Ak. Liu et al., WAVE-CURRENT INTERACTION STUDY IN THE GULF OF ALASKA FOR DETECTION OFEDDIES BY SYNTHETIC-APERTURE RADAR, J GEO RES-O, 99(C5), 1994, pp. 10075-10085
High resolution ERS-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images are used t
o detect a mesoscale eddy. Such features limit dispersal of pollock la
rvae and therefore likely influence recruitment of fish in the Gulf of
Alaska. During high sea states and high winds, the direct surface sig
nature of the eddy was not clearly visible, but the wave refraction in
the eddy area was observed. The rays of the wave field are traced-out
directly from the SAR image. The ray pattern gives information on the
refraction pattern and on the relative variation of the wave energy a
long a ray through wave-current interaction. These observations are si
mulated by a ray-tracing model which incorporates a surface current fi
eld associated with the eddy. The numerical results of the model show
that the waves are refracted and diverge in the eddy field with energy
density decreasing. The model-data comparison for each ray shows the
model predictions are in good agreement with the SAR data.