Christine Guérin

Analysis of Surface Roughness Heterogeneity and Scattering Behavior for Radar Measurements

The use of a theoretical backscatter model to analyze medium to low spatial resolution microwave data is still very complicated, particularly because of the difficulty in defining a unique roughness parameter, capable of adequately representing heterogeneous terrain. In this paper, an approach is proposed for roughness analysis and the modeling of backscattering, under conditions of surface heterogeneity. This paper is based on the use of a semiempirical backscattering model, defined with a single roughness parameter Zs=s2/l (s being the root mean square surface height and l the correlation length). The proposed backscattering model has been validated with integral equation model simulations, for high radar incidence angles, and within its domain of roughness validity. A range of experimental measurements was used to validate the model expressions. The effective low spatial resolution roughness, inferred from signals backscattered from a surface of heterogeneous roughness, is defined for different roughness classes

A New Shipborne Microwave Refractometer for Estimating the Evaporation Flux at the Sea Surface

Abstract After a brief description of humidity measurement and a short presentation of methods of microwave refractometry for evaporation flux, a new X-band refractometer system is presented. Based on a new design and a new material for the microwave cavity, it does not need calibration for refractive index variations because of its reduced thermal time constant. The new device has been combined with a sonic anemometer and traditional mean meteorological measurements on a 12-m shipborne mast. It has been found to be very efficient for obtaining humidity fluctuations and fluxes in the CATCH 97 (Couplage avec l’ATmosphere en Conditions Hivernales) and FETCH 98 (Flux, Etat de la mer et Teledetection en condition de fetCH variable) experiments under various wind and stability conditions. The inertial subrange is of very high quality. To first order, the evaporation flux and refractive index flux are very similar. In extreme meteorological conditions, such as those encountered during CATCH, the sensible heat f...