Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance

The geophysical model function for sea surface wind speed retrieval from co-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images typically requires wind direction as prior information. Obtaining wind direction relies directly or indirectly on external sources, making it impossible to achieve wind field r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xianen Wei, Jinsong Chong, Yawei Zhao, Lijie Diao, Xuan Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10829918/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823857171550437376
author Xianen Wei
Jinsong Chong
Yawei Zhao
Lijie Diao
Xuan Jin
author_facet Xianen Wei
Jinsong Chong
Yawei Zhao
Lijie Diao
Xuan Jin
author_sort Xianen Wei
collection DOAJ
description The geophysical model function for sea surface wind speed retrieval from co-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images typically requires wind direction as prior information. Obtaining wind direction relies directly or indirectly on external sources, making it impossible to achieve wind field retrieval solely based on co-polarized SAR images. This study takes advantage of the fact wind direction is similar to wind waves propagation direction, relying solely on co-polarized SAR images to obtain proper wind direction, thus enabling wind field retrieval without external wind direction assistance. This method underwent testing with Sentinel-1 Stripmap co-polarized SAR images in wind field retrieval experiments. Four cases were initially conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in both downwind and upwind scenarios. Furthermore, we compared wind field retrieved from 54 co-polarized SAR images with European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), ASCAT, and buoy data. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the absolute value of Bias of wind direction comparison with ECMWF and ASCAT were both below 22<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> and 1.8<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively. Similarly, the RMSE and the absolute value of Bias of wind speed comparison with ECMWF and ASCAT were both within 2.5 and 0.65 m/s, respectively. The retrieved wind direction was relatively consistent with the buoy wind direction, but there was a significant deviation in wind speed comparison. Statistical comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for wind field retrieval from co-polarized SAR imagery without external wind direction assistance, and the method showed good performance in wind speed retrieval near the coast.
format Article
id doaj-art-f0ff8438b404453688d0dc750e24c4cc
institution Kabale University
issn 1939-1404
2151-1535
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-f0ff8438b404453688d0dc750e24c4cc2025-02-12T00:00:27ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-01184979499110.1109/JSTARS.2025.352681010829918Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction AssistanceXianen Wei0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0310-2330Jinsong Chong1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0840-1234Yawei Zhao2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0765-1933Lijie Diao3Xuan Jin4https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6569-3619National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe geophysical model function for sea surface wind speed retrieval from co-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images typically requires wind direction as prior information. Obtaining wind direction relies directly or indirectly on external sources, making it impossible to achieve wind field retrieval solely based on co-polarized SAR images. This study takes advantage of the fact wind direction is similar to wind waves propagation direction, relying solely on co-polarized SAR images to obtain proper wind direction, thus enabling wind field retrieval without external wind direction assistance. This method underwent testing with Sentinel-1 Stripmap co-polarized SAR images in wind field retrieval experiments. Four cases were initially conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in both downwind and upwind scenarios. Furthermore, we compared wind field retrieved from 54 co-polarized SAR images with European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), ASCAT, and buoy data. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the absolute value of Bias of wind direction comparison with ECMWF and ASCAT were both below 22<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> and 1.8<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively. Similarly, the RMSE and the absolute value of Bias of wind speed comparison with ECMWF and ASCAT were both within 2.5 and 0.65 m/s, respectively. The retrieved wind direction was relatively consistent with the buoy wind direction, but there was a significant deviation in wind speed comparison. Statistical comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for wind field retrieval from co-polarized SAR imagery without external wind direction assistance, and the method showed good performance in wind speed retrieval near the coast.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10829918/Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)wind fieldwind streakswind waves
spellingShingle Xianen Wei
Jinsong Chong
Yawei Zhao
Lijie Diao
Xuan Jin
Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
wind field
wind streaks
wind waves
title Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
title_full Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
title_fullStr Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
title_full_unstemmed Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
title_short Wind Field Retrieval From Co-Polarized SAR Imagery Without External Wind Direction Assistance
title_sort wind field retrieval from co polarized sar imagery without external wind direction assistance
topic Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
wind field
wind streaks
wind waves
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10829918/
work_keys_str_mv AT xianenwei windfieldretrievalfromcopolarizedsarimagerywithoutexternalwinddirectionassistance
AT jinsongchong windfieldretrievalfromcopolarizedsarimagerywithoutexternalwinddirectionassistance
AT yaweizhao windfieldretrievalfromcopolarizedsarimagerywithoutexternalwinddirectionassistance
AT lijiediao windfieldretrievalfromcopolarizedsarimagerywithoutexternalwinddirectionassistance
AT xuanjin windfieldretrievalfromcopolarizedsarimagerywithoutexternalwinddirectionassistance