INVESTIGATING TROPICAL STORM CHARACTERISTICS WITH NEAR REAL TIME SPACE – BORNE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR IMAGES*

摘要

Active microwave radar satellites transmit and receive radar signals with wavelengths in the range of a few centimeters to one meter thus measuring the roughness of the sea surface, which allows the retrieval of wind and ocean wave fields. As the radar signals penetrate clouds, these sensors have all-weather capability and can acquire data also during nighttime. Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) are capable of synoptically imaging the sea surface with a coverage of up to 500 km x 500 km and a resolution of down to 30 m. They are thus especially suited for sea surface observations in coastal regions and in severe weather conditions. During the hurricane season of 2004 it has been possible to acquire SAR images of all four major hurricanes at the CSTARS satellite facility of the University of Miami. The images were processed in real time. In this paper a first analysis of the images with respect to marine parameters is given.