Predicted Doppler shifts induced by ocean surface wave displacements using asymptotic electromagnetic wave scattering theories

Abstract

Sea surface motions can produce different measured Doppler shifts with respect to instrumental configurations (incidence angle, electromagnetic wavelength, polarization). Under Gaussian statistics for the sea surface elevation and in the general framework of asymptotic theories for ocean surface electromagnetic wave scattering, Doppler shifts can be predicted. The small-slope, Kirchhoff, local curvature and resonant curvature approximations are compared in the backscatter configuration. Predicted Doppler shifts for Kirchhoff and small-slope approximations in co-polarized configuration are insensitive to the polarization state. On the other hand, the local and resonant curvature solutions, through a phase perturbation formalism, yield to significant differences between co-polarized predicted Doppler shifts. Comparisons with data are shown to confirm the polarization and wind speed sensitivities.