Directional wave spectrum estimation by SWIM instrument on CFOSAT

Thierry Amiot (1) , Céline Tison (1) , Vivien Enjolras (2) , Danièle Hauser (3) , Laurent Rey (2) , Juliette Lambin (1) , Patrick Castillan (1)

1 CNES - Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse]
2 TAS - Thales Alenia Space [Toulouse]
3 ESTER - LATMOS

Oceanography greatly benefits from remote sensing satellites for global monitoring and forecast of the sea state. The CFOSAT (China France Oceanography SATellite) mission, whose launch is planned for 2013, should embark two radar payloads to monitor wind and waves over the ocean. One of these two radar instruments is called SWIM (Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring). It is a scatterometer designed to measure ocean waves based on the Jackson et al.'s concept [1,2]. The ocean wave spectra provide information on the distribution of wave energy (or wave height) with respect to wavelength and wave propagation direction. These features are of main interests for ocean wave monitoring and forecast. The selected sun synchronous orbit (characterized by an altitude of 514 km and a 13 day cycle) ensures a nearly full coverage of the oceans.

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]; Océanographie

Thierry Amiot, Céline Tison, Vivien Enjolras, Danièle Hauser, Laurent Rey, et al.. Directional wave spectrum estimation by SWIM instrument on CFOSAT. Proceedings of the OceanObs'09 Conference, Sep 2009, Venice, Italy. 2 p. ⟨hal-00666495⟩