Separation of Incident and Reflected Waves by Means of a Wave Radar System

This letter describes the wave reflection induced by the breakwater of the Port of Civitavecchia in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, using a X-band wave radar. The wave radar system detected a complex structure of reflected waves that is composed of three spectral components and was generated by the complex structure of the breakwater. By applying a filter in the ω -k domain, it was possible to filter out the component of the incident waves to analyze the total component of reflected waves. Applying specific filters also made it possible to separate the spectral components of the single reflected waves. Bandpass filters were built to select each spectral component based on only the direction of the incident and reflected wave components. Starting from the separated spectral components, the reflection coefficients related to the measurement campaign were estimated and compared with the theoretical coefficients. The results confirm the potential of a radar system to resolve a complex sea state and provide a synoptic analysis of wave propagation processes over a wide measurement domain. Furthermore, this letter opens the way for new studies on the interaction between incident waves and coastal infrastructure.