Журнал

About Editorial Board Information for authors and reviewers Publication ethics Contacts User Account: send / review a manuscript
Archive
Volume 23, 2026
Number 1
Volume 22, 2025
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 21, 2024
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 20, 2023
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 19, 2022
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 18, 2021
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 17, 2020
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 16, 2019
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 15, 2018
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 14, 2017
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 13, 2016
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 12, 2015
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 11, 2014
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 10, 2013
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 9, 2012
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5
Volume 8, 2011
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 7, 2010
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Issue 6, 2009
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 5, 2008
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 4, 2007
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 3, 2006
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 2, 2005
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 1, 2004
Volume 1
Search
Find:
русский
ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 1, pp. 296-305

A model of manifestations of plastic films in radar imagery of the sea surface

S.A. Ermakov 1, 2 , I.A. Sergievskaya 1, 2 
1 Institute of Applied Physics RAS, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
2 Volga State University of Water Transport, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Accepted: 11.12.2025
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-1-296-305
A semi-empirical model of the spectrum of small-scale wind waves on the water surface covered with floating highly elastic films simulating plastic debris in the ocean is generalized. An expression for an additional source in the equation for the spectrum of wind waves is developed, which determines the excitation of small-scale Bragg waves by long waves of the decimeter-meter range. An analysis of field measurements of damping of long wind waves during their propagation in the presence of a plastic film is performed, and estimates of its elasticity are obtained. Within the framework of the model, estimates of the variability of the Bragg component of the radar signal during backscattering from the area of plastic films are given. The model is used to describe the manifestations in synthetic aperture radar images of areas of water surface pollution by marine debris. It is shown that the estimates of the suppression of the intensity of the radar signal obtained within the framework of the model are satisfactorily consistent with the observations.
Keywords: ocean radar probing, sea surface, wind waves, plastic debris, plastic films
Full text

References:

  1. Dobrokhotov V. A., Ermakov S. A., Sergievskaya I. A., Laboratory study of Ka-band radar scattering and wave damping on water covered with plastic film, Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2023, V. 20, No. 6, pp. 247–257 (in Russian), DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2023-20-6-247-257.
  2. Ermakov S. A., Vliyanie plenok na dinamiku gravitatsionno-kapillyarnykh voln (The influence of films on the dynamics of gravity-capillary waves), Nizhnii Novgorod: IPF RAN, 2010, 163 p. (in Russian).
  3. Ermakov S. A., Dobrokhotov V. A., Leshchev G. V. et al., Model experiments on investigation of the influence of plastic garbage on water surface on the characteristics of Ka-band radar signals, Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2024, V. 21, No. 1, pp. 257–269 (in Russian), DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2024-21-1-257-269.
  4. Levich V. G., Fiziko-khimicheskaya gidrodinamika (Physicochemical hydrodynamics), Moscow: GIFML, 1959, 700 p.
  5. Arii M., Koiwa M., Aoki Y., Applicability of SAR to marine debris surveillance after the great east japan earthquake, IEEE J. Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2014, V. 7, No. 5, pp. 1729–1744, DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2308550.
  6. Chubarenko I., Esiukova E., Khatmullina L. et al., From macro to micro, from patchy to uniform: Analyzing plastic contamination along and across a sandy tide-less coast, Marine Pollution Bull., 2020, V. 156, Article 111198, DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111198.
  7. Donelan M. A., Pierson W. J., Jr., Radar scattering and equilibrium ranges in wind-generated waves with application to scatterometry, J. Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1987, V. 92, No. C5, pp. 4971–5029, DOI: 10.1029/JC092iC05p04971.
  8. Ermakov S. A., Sergievskaya I. A., Plotnikov L. M. et al., New features of Bragg and non-polarized radar backscattering from film slicks on the sea surface, J. Marine Science and Engineering, 2022, V. 10, No. 9, Article 1262, DOI: 10.3390/jmse10091262.
  9. Evans M. C., Ruf C. S., Toward the detection and imaging of ocean microplastics with a spaceborne radar, IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2021, V. 60, Article 4202709, 9 p., DOI: 10.1109/tgrs.2021.3081691.
  10. Jarzyna K., The great pacific garbage patch. an outline of the problem, Antypody, A Quarterly Magazine of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Research Association, 2011, No. 4, pp. 2–14.
  11. Kudryavtsev V. N., Hauser D., Caudal G., Chapron B., A semi-empirical model of the normalized radar cross section of the sea surface 1. Background model, J. Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2003, V. 108, No. C3, Article 8054, DOI: 10.1029/2001JC001003.
  12. Li P., Wang X., Su M. et al., Characteristics of plastic pollution in the environment: A review, Bull. Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2021, V. 107, No. 4, pp. 577–584, DOI: 10.1007/s00128-020-02820-1.
  13. Phillips O. M., Radar returns from the sea surface — Bragg scattering and breaking waves, J. Physical Oceanography, 1988, V. 18, pp. 1065–1074, DOI: 10.1175/1520-0485(1988)018<1065:RRFTSS>2.0.CO;2.
  14. Plant W., A relationship between wind stress and wave slope, J. Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1982, V. 87, No. C3, pp. 1961–1967, DOI: 10.1029/JC087iC03p01961.
  15. Sergievskaya I., Ermakov S., On an empirical model of the source of short wind waves based on radar observations of marine film slicks, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 2024, V. 21, Article 3510705, 5 p., DOI: 10.1109/lgrs.2024.3474796.
  16. Sergievskaya I. A., Ermakov S. A., Ermoshkin A. V. et al., The role of micro breaking of small-scale wind waves in radar backscattering from sea surface, Remote Sensing, 2020, V. 12, No. 24, Article 4159, DOI: 10.3390/rs12244159.
  17. Simpson M. D., Marino A., de Maagt P. et al., Monitoring of plastic islands in river environment using Sentinel-1 SAR data, Remote Sensing, 2022, V. 14, No. 18, Article 4473, DOI: 10.3390/rs14184473.
  18. Simpson M. D., Marino A., de Maagt P. et al., Investigating the backscatter of marine plastic litter using a C- and X-band ground radar, during a measurement campaign in Deltares, Remote Sensing, 2023, V. 15, No. 6, Article 1654, DOI: 10.3390/rs15061654.
  19. Suaria G., Cappa P., Perold V. et al., Abundance and composition of small floating plastics in the eastern and southern sectors of the Atlantic Ocean, Marine Pollution Bull., 2023, V. 193, Article 115109, DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115109.
  20. Stewart R. W., The air-sea momentum exchange, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 1974, V. 6, No. 1–2, pp. 151–167, DOI: 10.1007/BF00232481.
  21. Sun Yu., Bakker T., Ruf C., Pan Y., Effects of microplastics and surfactants on surface roughness of water waves, Scientific Reports, 2023, No. 13, Article 1978, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29088-9.
  22. Valenzuela G. R., Theories for the interaction of electromagnetic and oceanic waves — A review, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 1978, V. 13, No. 1–4, pp. 61–85, DOI: 10.007/BF00913863.
  23. Vickers D., Mahrt L., Andreas E. L., Formulation of the sea-surface friction velocity in terms of the mean wind and bulk stability, J. Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 2015, V. 54, No. 3, pp. 691–703, DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-14-00991.
  24. Vodeneeva E., Pichugina Y., Zhurova D. et al., Epiplastic algal communities on different types of polymers in freshwater bodies: A short-term experiment in karst lakes, Water, 2024, No. 16, No. 22, Article 3288, DOI: 10.3390/w16223288.