Application of an Airborne System for Observing Wind Waves

The field observations took place on the New Castle Coast Guard region in the Gulf of Maine on June 30th 2023. Surface looking polarimetric camera is mounted on the UAV system. Camera motions are controlled and smoothed out using a gimbal. Sea surface slope imagery is retrieved at various heights with a total flight time of 20 minutes. Slope fields are rectified to earth coordinates by 3D rotations corresponding to camera pitch, roll, and yaw. The real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning system and inertial navigation system located in the UAV yield centimeter-scale accuracy in rectification.

Georectified Wave Slope Fields