Sea Surface Roughness Derivation from Wind Speed Estimated by Satellite Altimeter

For open sea conditions the sea surface roughness is described as a function of surface stress and wind speed over sea surface by Charnock relation. The sea surface roughnessn in the North-west Pacific Ocean is derived successfully using wind speed data estimated by the TOPEX satellite altimeter. From the results we find that： （1） the mean sea surface roughness in winter is greater than in summer; （2） compared with other sea areas, the sea surface roughness in the sea area east of Japan （ N30°- 40°, E135°- 150°） is larger than in other sea areas; （3） sea surface roughness in the South China Sea changes more greatly than that in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

On Sea Surface Roughness Parameterization and Its Effect on Tropical Cyclone Structure and Intensity

A new parameterization scheme of sea surface momentum roughness length for all wind regimes, including high winds, under tropical cyclone （TC） conditions is constructed based on measurements from Global Positioning System （GPS） dropsonde. It reproduces the observed regime transition, namely, an increase of the drag coefficient with an increase in wind speed up to 40 m s-1 , followed by a decrease with a further increase in wind speed. The effect of this parameterization on the structure and intensity of TCs is evaluated using a newly developed numerical model, TCM4. The results show that the final intensity is increased by 10.5% （8.9%） in the maximum surface wind speed and by 8.1 hPa （5.9 hPa） in the minimum sea surface pressure drop with （without） dissipative heating. This intensity increase is found to be due mainly to the reduced frictional dissipation in the surface layer and little to do with either the surface enthalpy flux or latent heat release in the eyewall convection. The effect of the new parameterization on the storm structure is found to be insignificant and occurs only in the inner core region with the increase in tangential winds in the eyewall and the increase in temperature anomalies in the eye. This is because the difference in drag coefficient appears only in a small area under the eyewall. Implications of the results are briefly discussed.

Comparison among sea surface roughness schemes

Based on the measurements from the US National Data Buoy Center 3-m discus buoy site No. 44004 （38.5°N, 70.47°W） from January 1 to March 31 of 2003, with the COARE algorithm （Version 3.0）, the results from four parameterization schemes developed recently for sea surface aerodynamic roughness length were compared with each other. Calculations of frictional speed u., drag coefficient Ca and wind stress r indicate that the calculated frictional velocities from the four schemes （8.50%-16.20%, the normalized standard error estimate, or NSEE）, the computed drag coefficients and wind stress （respectively 15.08%-28.67% and 17.26%,50.59% NSEE） are reasonable. Schemes YT96 and GW03 are consistent. The 002 scheme gives overestimated values for u, and Ca. Schemes TY01 and GW03 display discontinuous characteristics in handling young wave data.

An ensemble learning method to retrieve sea ice roughness from Sentinel-1 SAR images

Sea ice surface roughness(SIR)affects the energy transfer between the atmosphere and the ocean,and it is also an important indicator for sea ice characteristics.To obtain a small-scale SIR with high spatial resolution,a novel method is proposed to retrieve SIR from Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar(SAR)images,utilizing an ensemble learning method.Firstly,the two-dimensional continuous wavelet transform is applied to obtain the spatial information of sea ice,including the scale and direction of ice patterns.Secondly,a model is developed using the Adaboost Regression model to establish a relationship among SIR,radar backscatter and the spatial information of sea ice.The proposed method is validated by using the SIR retrieved from SAR images and comparing it to the measurements obtained by the Airborne Topographic Mapper(ATM)in the summer Beaufort Sea.The determination of coefficient,mean absolute error,root-mean-square error and mean absolute percentage error of the testing data are 0.91,1.71 cm,2.82 cm,and 36.37%,respectively,which are reasonable.Moreover,K-fold cross-validation and learning curves are analyzed,which also demonstrate the method’s applicability in retrieving SIR from SAR images.

High-order Bragg forward scattering and frequency shift of low-frequency underwater acoustic field by moving rough sea surface

Acoustic scattering modulation caused by an undulating sea surface on the space-time dimension seriously affects underwater detection and target recognition.Herein,underwater acoustic scattering modulation from a moving rough sea surface is studied based on integral equation and parabolic equation.And with the principles of grating and constructive interference,the mechanism of this acoustic scattering modulation is explained.The periodicity of the interference of moving rough sea surface will lead to the interference of the scattering field at a series of discrete angles,which will form comb-like and frequency-shift characteristics on the intensity and the frequency spectrum of the acoustic scattering field,respectively,which is a high-order Bragg scattering phenomenon.Unlike the conventional Doppler effect,the frequency shifts of the Bragg scattering phenomenon are multiples of the undulating sea surface frequency and are independent of the incident sound wave frequency.Therefore,even if a low-frequency underwater acoustic field is incident,it will produce obvious frequency shifts.Moreover,under the action of ideal sinusoidal waves,swells,fully grown wind waves,unsteady wind waves,or mixed waves,different moving rough sea surfaces create different acoustic scattering processes and possess different frequency shift characteristics.For the swell wave,which tends to be a single harmonic wave,the moving rough sea surface produces more obvious high-order scattering and frequency shifts.The same phenomena are observed on the sea surface under fully grown wind waves,however,the frequency shift slightly offsets the multiple peak frequencies of the wind wave spectrum.Comparing with the swell and fully-grown wind waves,the acoustic scattering and frequency shift are not obvious for the sea surface under unsteady wind waves.

Wave-Dependence of Friction Velocity, Roughness Length, and Drag Coefficient over Coastal and Open Water Surfaces by Using Three Databases

The parameterization of friction velocity, roughness length, and the drag coefficient over coastal zones and open water surfaces enables us to better understand the physical processes of air-water interaction. In context of measurements from the Humidity Exchange over the Sea Main Experiment （HEXMAX）, we recently proposed wave-parameter dependent approaches to sea surface friction velocity and the aerodynamic roughness by using the dimensional analysis method. To extend the application of these approaches to a range of natural surface conditions, the present study is to assess this approach by using both coastal shallow （RASEX） and open water surface measurements （Lake Ontario and Grand Banks ERS-1 SAR） where wind speeds were greater than 6.44 m s-1. Friction velocities, the surface aerodynamic roughness, and the neutral drag coefficient estimated by these approaches under moderate wind conditions were compared with the measurements mentioned above. Results showed that the coefficients in these approaches for coastal shallow water surface differ from those for open water surfaces, and that the aerodynamic roughness length in terms of wave age or significant wave height should be treated differently for coastal shallow and open water surfaces.

Application of the method of equivalent edge currents to composite scattering from the cone-cylinder above a dielectric rough sea surface

Compared with scattering from a rough surface only, composite scattering from a target above a rough surface has become so practical that it is a subject of great interest. At present, this problem has been solved by some numerical methods which will produce an enormous calculation amount. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the reciprocity theorem （RT） and the method of equivalent edge currents （MEC） are used in this paper. Due to the advantage of RT, the difficulty in computing the secondary scattered fields is reduced. Simultaneously, MEC, a high-frequency method with edge diffraction considered, is used to calculate the scattered field from the cone-cylinder target with a high accuracy and efficiency. The backscattered field and the polarization currents of the rough sea surface are evaluated by the Kirchhoff approximation （KA） method and physical optics （PO） method, respectively. The effects of the backscattering radar cross section （RCS） and the Doppler spectrum on the size of the target and the windspeed of the sea surface for different incident angles are analysed in detail.

Investigation on global positioning system signal scattering and propagation over the rough sea surface

This paper is devoted to the study of polarization properties, scattering properties and propagation properties of global positioning system （GPS） scattering signal over the rough sea surface. To investigate the polarization and the scattering properties, the scattering field and the bistatic scattering coefficient of modified Kirchhoff approximation using the tapered incident wave is derived in detail. In modeling the propagation properties of the GPS scattering signal in the evaporation duct, the initial field of parabolic equation traditionally computed by the antenna pattern using fast Fourier transform （FFT） is replaced by the GPS scattering field. And the propagation properties of the GPS scattering signal in the evaporation duct with different evaporation duct heights and elevation angles of GPS are discussed by the improved discrete mixed Fourier transform taking into account the sea surface roughness.

Determination of Arctic melt pond fraction and sea ice roughness from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery

Melt ponds on Arctic sea ice are of great significance in the study of the heat balance in the ocean mixed layer, mass and salt balances of Arctic sea ice, and other aspects of the earth-atmosphere system. During the 7th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, aerial photographs were taken from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle over an ice floe in the Canada Basin. Using threshold discrimination and three-dimensional modeling, we estimated a melt pond fraction of 1.63% and a regionally averaged surface roughness of 0.12 for the study area. In view- of the particularly foggy environment of the Arctic, aerial images were defogged using an improved dark channel prior based image defog algorithm, especially adapted for the special conditions of sea ice images. An aerial photo mosaic was generated, melt ponds were identified from the mosaic image and melt pond fractions were calculated. Three-dimensional modeling techniques were used to generate a digital elevation model allowing relative elevation and roughness of the sea ice surface to be estimated. Analysis of the relationship between the distributions of melt ponds and sea ice surface roughness show-s that melt ponds are smaller on sea ice with higher surface roughness, while broader melt ponds usually occur in areas where sea ice surface roughness is lower.

Sound Scattering From Rough Bubbly Ocean Surface Based on Modified Sea Surface Acoustic Simulator and Consideration of Various Incident Angles and Sub-surface Bubbles＇ Radii

The aim of the present study is to improve the capabilities and precision of a recently introduced Sea Surface Acoustic Simulator(SSAS) developed based on optimization of the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff–Fresnel(HKF) method. The improved acoustic simulator, hereby known as the Modified SSAS(MSSAS), is capable of determining sound scattering from the sea surface and includes an extended Hall–Novarini model and optimized HKF method. The extended Hall–Novarini model is used for considering the effects of sub-surface bubbles over a wider range of radii of sub-surface bubbles compared to the previous SSAS version. Furthermore, MSSAS has the capability of making a three-dimensional simulation of scattered sound from the rough bubbly sea surface with less error than that of the Critical Sea Tests(CST) experiments. Also, it presents scattered pressure levels from the rough bubbly sea surface based on various incident angles of sound. Wind speed, frequency, incident angle, and pressure level of the sound source are considered as input data, and scattered pressure levels and scattering coefficients are provided. Finally, different parametric studies were conducted on wind speeds, frequencies, and incident angles to indicate that MSSAS is quite capable of simulating sound scattering from the rough bubbly sea surface, according to the scattering mechanisms determined by Ogden and Erskine. Therefore, it is concluded that MSSAS is valid for both scattering mechanisms and the transition region between them that are defined by Ogden and Erskine.

An angular cutoff composite model for investigation on electromagnetic scattering from two-dimensional rough sea surfaces

Based on the local configuration angle division to select the corresponding method for electromagnetic scattering calculation from rough sea surface, this paper presents an angular cutoff composite model： when the local scattered angle is in the specular region that is given by an approximately 20 degrees cone around the specular direction, the Kirchhoff approximation is applied to evaluate the specular reflection, which dominates the total scattering in this region; the small perturbation method is employed to handle the diffuse reflection which is predominant as the local scattered angle is situated out of the specular region. Numerical results are compared with those of experimental and theoretical models in several configurations as a function of incident angle, wind speed, wind direction. The comparison of numerical results of other experimental and theoretical models in several configurations shows that the new composite model is robust to give accurate numerical evaluations for the sea surface scattering.

Doppler spectral analysis for time-evolving sea surfaces using second-order small slope approximation

The second-order small slope approximation （SSA2） method is introduced to study the Doppler characteristics from time-evolving sea surfaces. Simulation results show better agreement between the SSA2 model and the numerical method for both vertical and horizontal polarizations, meaning that SSA2 gives a satisfactory prediction of the spectral difference between two po- larizations; while such discrepancy cannot be captured using the lowest-order SSA （SSA1） model. In particular, the Doppler shifts and spectral widths for different incident angles, wind directions and polarizations are analyzed, demonstrating correct variations with respect to such parameters. Those observations prove that the SSA2 provides an efficient and relatively fast tool for sea surface Doppler spectral analysis.