Estimation of directional sea wave spectra from radar images: A Mediterranean Sea case study

An inversion technique for estimating sea wave directional spectra from Syn thetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images is applied to a set of ERS-1 data releva nt to selected Mediterranean areas. The approach followed is based on the a nalytical definition of the transform which maps the sea wave spectrum onto the corresponding SAR image spectrum. The solution of the inverse problem is determined through a numerical procedure which minimises a proper functi onal. A suitable iterative scheme is adopted, involving the use of the abov e transform. Although widely applied to the ocean case, the method has not been yet extensively tested in smaller scale basins, as for instance the Me diterranean sea. The results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of the numerical procedure discussed for retrieving the sea wave spectrum from SAR images. This work provides new experimental data relevant to the Mediterra nean Sea, discusses the results obtained by the above inversion technique a nd compares them with buoy derived sea truth measurements.