A new type of overshoot phenomenon in wind wave development and its implication in remote sensing of the ocean.

Laboratory measurements using both wave probe (contact and optical) and radar confirm the existence of a new type of overshoot phenomenon in the wind-wave development processes. With the existence of this overshoot it becomes obvious that the past assumed simple power law relationship between the rms value of surface slope at a fixed wavelength and the wind stress is untenable. Since such a relationship is one of the key assumptions invoked in the development of algorithms used to date in scatterometry, we have re-examined the published scatterometer data and pointed out the implications of this overshoot phenomenon.-from Authors