Design of a New Sensor Integrating Scatterometer and SAR to Observe Sea Surface Wind Field

The sea surface wind vectors in different sea areas such as the general waters and offshore waters, change in different spatial scales and requires different resolutions. Due to different retrieving mechanisms, the scatterometer is suitable for observing wind fields with low resolution in general waters, while the SAR can be applied to obtain wind fields with higher resolution in offshore waters. In order to retrieve wind fields in all kinds of sea areas, this paper proposes a new sensor integrating scatterometer and SAR, which adopts a single digital array antenna, but functions as a SAR and a scatterometer simultaneously through multiple beamforming Besides, this paper designs the operating mode, together with the joint time sequence of the transceiver for two modes to work simultaneously. This proposed concept can benefit the system development in simpler architecture, lighter weight, and lower cost. Moreover, the multiple observation modes working synchronously can improve the retrieving accuracy, and may give birth to some new applications.