Waveform of the Reflected Impulse at the Oblique Sounding of the Sea Surface

The height of sea waves is one of the most important characteristics describing the wave climate of the ocean. At the present, the main radar for remote measurement of wave heights is an altimeter. Measurements are performed at the vertical sounding (incidence angle equal to zero). The Brown model was developed to describe the waveform of the reflected impulse at the vertical sounding. There is no theoretical model for the case of oblique sounding. In the Kirchhoff approximation, the theoretical task about waveform of the reflected impulse at oblique sounding was considered. In the result of the investigation, the analytical formula for the waveform of the reflected impulse for oblique sounding at the small incidence angles (< 12◦) for a microwave radar with a narrow antenna beam was obtained. The waveform of the reflected impulse depends on the width of antenna beam, incidence angle, impulse duration, significant wave height (SWH), altitude of the radar, mean square slopes of large-scale, in comparison with radar wavelength, sea waves. It is shown that possibility exist to retrieve SWH using waveform the reflected impulse at the oblique sounding.