Figure C-3 Trajectories of 17 satellite-tracl<ed buoys deployed by International Ice Patrol. The dots 

 mark the launch positions. 



SEASAT SAR data and a previous 

 version of the IIP SLAR, LaViolette 

 (1983) examined the ability of 

 imaging radars to map oceanic 

 features near the Grand Banks. 

 He demonstrated that SLAR and 

 SEASAT SAR showed similar 

 features and that both radars 

 could detect thermal fronts seen in 

 the infrared imagery. He found, 

 however, that in some cases the 

 radar-defined fronts were not as 



sharp as those shown in the IR 

 images. He recommended that 

 since satellite SAR is currently 

 unavailable and few aircraft-borne 

 SAR's exist, SLAR-equipped 

 aircraft should be used to improve 

 the understanding of ocean 

 processes. 



Imaging radars map the sea- 

 surface roughness through Bragg 

 scattering (Robinson, 1985), which 



for the 3-cm wavelength and 

 incidence angles of the IIP SLAR, 

 results in a sensitivity to ocean 

 waves approximately 2-cm long. 

 As a result, the IIP SLAR imagery 

 of the ocean is essentially a map of 

 the distribution of these 2 cm-long 

 waves; the SEASAT SAR was 

 sensitive to 30-cm wavelengths 

 (Vesecky and Stewart, 1982). On 

 both radars, differences in surface 

 roughness are indicated on the 



55 



