Design considerations for a dual-frequency radar for sea spray measurement in hurricanes

Over the last few years, researchers have determined that sea spray from breaking waves can have a large effect on the magnitude and distribution of the air-sea energy flux at hurricane-force wind speeds. Characterizing the fluxes requires estimates of the height-dependent droplet size distribution (DSD). Currently, the few available measurements have been acquired with spectrometer probes, which can provide only flight-level measurements. As such, in-situ measurement of near-surface droplet fluxes in hurricanes with these instruments is, at best, extremely challenging, if at all possible. This paper describes an airborne dual-wavelength radar profiler concept to retrieve the DSD of sea spray.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: IGARSS
• Authors: Daniel Esteban-Fernandez, Stephen L. Durden, Julian Chaubell, Kenneth B. Cooper
• Keywords: Air-sea Energy Flux, Droplet Size Distribution, IGARSS 2010, Remote Sensing, Sea Spray