The Harp Probe: An In Situ Bragg Scattering Sensor

Abstract

A wave sensor, consisting of parallel, evenly spaced capacitance wires, whose output is the sum of the water surface deflections at the wires, has been built and tested in a wave tank. The probe output simulates Bragg scattering of electromagnetic waves from a water surface with waves; it can be used to simulate electromagnetic probing of the sea surface by radar. Our study establishes that the wave probe, called the ?Harp? for short, will simulate Bragg scattering, and that it can also be used to study nonlinear wave processes.