Shallow Sea Bottom Topography Mapping By SAR

In this thesis, the remote sensing study of shallow sea bottom topography by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented. It describes the simulation of the radar backscattering cross section of the sea surface, the SAR technique for shallow sea bottom topography mapping and the characteristics of the multi-parameter SAR images. There are four chapters and the contents of each chapter are arranged as follows.Chapter 1 presents a literature review of the SAR remote sensing of shallow sea bottom topography.Chapter 2 gives a brief summary of principles of SAR and some basic concepts of SAR oceanic remote sensing.Chapter 3 describes the basic principles of shallow sea bottom topography remote sensing by SAR. Based on the mechanics of SAR images, the numerical models are developed. Using these models, the radar backscattering cross section of the shallow sea bottom topography is simulated for radar parameters, sea state parameters and bottom topography parameters. The results show that shallow sea bottom topography mapping by SAR is strongly related to radar parameters, sea states and bottom topography itself.In Chapter 4, the SAR image characteristics of shallow sea bottom topography are analyzed using multi-time SAR images. It gives the mapping models of shallow sea bottom topography by SAR. The depthes of Xiaxingsha sandwaves and the southwest bottom topography of Jilong Island are calculated. The results show that SAR is able to measure the shallow sea bottom topography accurately.Chapter 5 gives the qualitative analysis method for shallow sea bottom topography mapping. Some special examples of shallow sea bottom topography mapping using the qualitative methods are presented.In chapter 6, the remote sensing mechanics of shallow sea bottom topography by multi-band and multi-polarization SAR is described. Using the SIR-C/X-SAR data and simulation method, the multi-band and multi-polarization SAR image characteristic is analyzed. The results show that the images of shallow sea bottom topography present characteristics of multi-band and multi-polarization. These image characteristics can be used to study of imaging mechanisms of shallow sea bottom topography mapping by multi-band and multi-polarization SARs.