Observations of sea surface mean square slope during the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment

Registered ocean wave topography and backscattered power data at 36 GHz were collected off the coast of Tasmania under a wide range of wind and sea conditions, from quiescent to gale force winds with 9 m wave height. Collection altitude varied from 35 m to 1.4 km, allowing determination of the sea surface mean squared slope (mss), the directional wave spectrum, and mss variation with respect to wind and wave parameters.