Ratio processing methods are reviewed, and a new method is proposed for extracting water depth and bottom type information from passive multispectral scanner data. Limitations of each technique are discussed, and an error analysis is performed using an analytical model for the radiance over shallow water.

The reflectance of shallow water areas to solar illumination is a function of the water depth, the water optical properties and the bottom reflectance. Assuming the water optical properties to be uniform over a given scene area, the signals recorded by a multispectral scanner system may be combined to obtain information on the water attenuation and bottom reflectance parameters without knowledge of the water depth. These techniques are described and evaluated for a test site near North Cat Cay in the Bahamas.

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This paper reviews basic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) theory of ocean wave imaging mechanisms, using both known work and recent experimental and theoretical results from the Marine Remote Sensing (MARSEN) Experiment. Several viewpoints that have contributed to the field are drawn together in a general analysis of the backscatter statistics of a moving sea surface. A common focus for different scattering models is provided by the mean image impulse response function, which is shown to be identical to the (spatially varying) frequency variance spectrum of the local complex reflectivity coefficient. From the analysis has emerged a more complete view of the SAR imaging phenomenon than has been previously available. A new, generalized imaging model is proposed.

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