Effective Surface Roughness in Radar Ocean Backscattering

In this article, we proposed a modulated correlation function (MCF) to characterize the multiscale property of the sea surface and adopted it in the advanced integral equation model (AIEM) to calculate the radar backscattering. Comparisons of normalized radar backscattering cross section (NRBCS) with geophysical model functions (GMFs) predictions and radar measurements are conducted in various wind conditions. Good consistency and accuracy confirm the proposed model’s accuracy and applicability in predicting radar backscattering. In addition, the relations between two modulation parameters and wind vectors are analyzed at the C-band. The effective correlation lengths determined from the MCF show strong wind dependence, besides the incident angle and frequency in the context of radar backscattering.