RADAR IMAGING FOR MARITIME OBSERVATION

The publication is devoted to the maritime observation – this is a term that has been chosen with the intention to cover both maritime surveillance and the remote sensing of the surface of the sea. It should be noted that the subject scenarios seriously differ when it comes to the application, despite the fact that they share a common essential basis, i.e. the sea surface, uniquely characterizing the radar echoes and their proper processing.

The radars have been used for the maritime observations from the earliest days of their appearance on the vessels. To understand how exactly the microwave signals generated by the radar, interact with the sea surface, one shall possess some knowledge of the physics.

There have been numerous studies, including both theoretical and practical, to get clear idea of the backscattering phenomena and better use of radars through improvements of the associated algorithms, including detection and estimation, as well as the classification of the information received. With the introduction of the SAR, standing for the synthetic aperture radar, and high spatial resolution devices, the images are now readily available and the users can apply them for the maritime observation.