Observing sea oil pollution using synthetic aperture radar measurements: from theory to applications

In this study, the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) as well as the damping ratio (DR) of surfactants of known origin are predicted using two scattering models, namely the two-scale Boundary Perturbation Model (BPM) and Advanced Integral Equation Model (AIEM), which are augmented with two damping models, Marangoni damping coefficient and Model of Local Balance (MLB). Theoretical predictions are contrasted with actual measurements acquired - over the same oil-covered area - by the X-band TerraSAR-X and CosmoSkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) missions.