Asar Wave Mode First Geophysical Results

Some geophysical calibration results on the level 1 ASAR WVI products are presented in the continuity of the investigations performed on the ERS1/2 SAR Wave Mode products. Investigations have been focussed on comparisons with co-located ECMWF winds. In particular, a calibration constant is tentatively derived using CMOD-IFREMER model function. Following standard azimuthal resolution losses over moving ocean scenes, a cut-off parameter is derived from inter-look spectral analysis. This parameter is further compared to the first and second order statistical moments of the imagette intensity. Taking full advantage of the new ENVISAT Wave Mode products that are now distributed at the SLC stage, along with a good knowledge of the satellite attitude, new insights from the Doppler centroid information are presented here as a very promising technique to monitor sea surface velocities on a synoptic scale.