Numerical simulation methods for rough surface scattering

Numerical methods are of great importance in the study of electromagnetic scattering from random rough surfaces. This review provides an overview of rough surface scattering and application areas of current interest, and surveys research in numerical simulation methods for both one- and two-dimensional surfaces. Approaches considered include numerical methods based on analytical scattering approximations, differential equation methods and surface integral equation methods. Emphasis is placed on recent advances such as rapidly converging iterative solvers for rough surface problems and fast methods for increasing the computational efficiency of integral equation solvers.     

A coordinate–spectral method for rough surface scattering

Abstract

In this paper, we deal with the time-harmonic scattering by one-dimensional rough surfaces separating two homogeneous and isotropic media. The method is based on a rigorous integral formalism. The unknown of the integral equation is projected onto a Fourier basis while the equation itself is sampled as in a classical method of moments. The accuracy is tested against both other methods and experimental results. One of the main interests in choosing a Fourier basis lies in the ability to solve rigorously the scattering of a p polarized incident beam by a shallow metallic rough surface. The role of the surface waves is accurately taken into account and phenomena such as enhanced backscattering are well described. With this method, one can consider that the gap between the domain of validity of perturbation theories and the domain of practical use of rigorous methods is filled.     

Rigorous solutions for electromagnetic scattering from rough surfaces

Abstract

First, the rough surface scattering problem is formulated from a statistical point of view. Then, different numerical schemes that permit one to solve Maxwell equations without approximation are presented for the three-dimensional scattering problem. Particular attention is paid to boundary integral methods and to the numerical techniques developed to handle large linear systems when short-range interactions dominate. Lastly, several important connected issues that require further numerical and theoretical improvements are discussed.     

A numerical evaluation of Rayleigh's theory applied to scattering by randomly rough dielectric surfaces

Abstract

We present a numerical simulation of scattering by one-dimensional randomly rough surfaces. It is based on the use of plane-wave expansions to describe the Melds on the surface (i.e. Rayleigh hypothesis). Accuracy and convergence properties of two different numerical implementations are studied. Some examples of results for a dielectric and a metallic Gaussian rough surface are shown to be in good agreement with calculations by a rigorous numerical method. The Rayleigh method appears to be a fast computation tool for dielectric surfaces with slopes of less than 0.2.     

Specular propagation over rough surfaces: numerical assessment of Uscinski and Stanek's mean Green's function technique

The purpose of this paper is to numerically evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of Uscinski and Stanek's mean Green's function technique for computing the mean field of a wave scattered by a rough surface. We present here a direct comparison of this technique with a rigorous numerical method, the forward scattering integral equation method, and another analytical method, the first-order smoothing approximation. Furthermore, we compare the roughness generated equivalent admittance using the three methods. Numerical computations reveal that the scattered field calculated by this technique is not accurate particularly for the equivalent admittance at low grazing angles, even though the mean surface current density is recovered when the wave has traversed several correlation lengths on the surface.     

Bistatic scattering and depolarization by randomly rough surfaces: application to the natural rough surfaces in X-band

Abstract

The scattering of waves by random rough surfaces has important applications in the remote sensing of oceans and land. The problem of developing a model for rough surfaces is very difficult since, at best, the scattering coefficient σ⁰ is dependent upon (at least) the radar frequency, geometrical and physical parameters, incident and observation angles, and polarization. The problem of electromagnetic scattering from a randomly rough surface is analysed using the Kirchhoff approximation (stationary phase, scalar approximation), the small-perturbation model and the two-scale models. A first major new consideration in this paper is the polarimetric signature calculations as a function of the transmitter location and receiver location for a bistatic radio-link. We calculate the like- and cross-polarized received power directly using the scattering coefficients, without calculating the Mueller matrix. Next, a study of the regions of validity of the Kirchhoff and small-perturbation rough surface scattering models (in the bistatic case) is presented. Comparisons between the numerical calculations and the models are made for various surface rms heights and correlation lengths both normalized to the incident wavenumber (denoted by σ and L, respectively). By using these two parameters to form a two-dimensional space, the approximate regions of validity are then established. The second major new consideration is the development of a theoretical two-scale model describing bistatic reflectivity as well as the numerical results computed for the bistatic radar cross section from rough surfaces especially from the sea and snow-covered surfaces. The results are used to show the Brewster angle effect on near-grazing angle scattering.     

Acoustic scattering from a rough sea surface: the mean field by the integral equation method

Abstract

The scattering of an acoustic signal incident from below at low angles on a rough sea surface is treated by the integral equation method in the parabolic approximation. Equations are obtained allowing the mean scattered field to be calculated even when the surface causes a large phase modulation in the incident wave. Solutions are found using the method of Laplace transforms and some results are presented for a specific type of rough surface.     

Transmission scatter cross sections across two-dimensional random rough surfaces – full wave solutions and comparison with numerical results

Abstract

In this paper, the full wave expressions for the bistatic transmission scattering cross sections across two-dimensional random rough surfaces are obtained. The full wave analysis accounts for the surface height/slope correlations. Analytical and numerical comparisons of the full wave solutions with the small perturbation and physical optics solutions are made for isotropic random rough surfaces. The full wave results are also compared with the numerical results based on Monte Carlo simulations of one-dimensional random rough surfaces. Detailed consideration is given to illustrating the relationship between these full wave solutions and the original full wave solutions including the impact of accounting for the height/slope correlations in this analysis.     

Numerical,analytical, and experimental studies of scattering from very rough surfaces and backscattering enhancement

Abstract

This paper Presents numerical simulations, theoretical analysis, and millimeter wave experiments for scattering from one-dimensional very rough surfaces. First, numerical simulations are used to investigate the effects of roughness spectrum, height variation, interface medium, polarization, and incident angle on the backscattering enhancement. The enhanced backscattering due to rough surface scattering is divided into two cases; the RMS height close to a wavelength and RMS slope close to unity, and RMS height much smaller than a wavelength with surface wave contributions. Results also show that the enhancement is sensitive to the roughness spectrum. Next, a theory based on the first- and second-order Kirchhoff approximation modified with angular and propagation shadowing is developed. The theoretical solutions provide a physical explanation of backscattering enhancement and agree well with the numerical results. In addition to the scattering of a monochromatic wave, the analytical results of the broadening and lateral spreading of a pulsed beam wave scattering from rough surfaces are also discussed. Finally, the existence of backscattering enhancement from one-dimensional very rough conducting surfaces with exact Gaussian statistics and Gaussian roughness spectrum is verified by a millimeter-wave experiment. Experimental results which show enhanced backscattering for both TE and TM polarizations for different angles of incidence are presented.     

Perturbation theory results for the diffuse scattering of light from two-dimensional randomly rough metal surfaces

Abstract

Using the unitarity and reciprocity preserving formulation of Brown et al a perturbation treatment, correct to fourth order in the surface profile function, is given for the scattering of electromagnetic waves from a weakly rough, two-dimensional, random metal surface. In this formulation the boundary conditions on the electromagnetic fields are satisfied using the extinction theorem in conjunction with the Rayleigh hypothesis and the vector equivalent of the Kirchhoff integral. The theory is applied to, and results are presented for, several different types of rough surfaces which are characterized by power spectra that are extensions to two-dimensional random surfaces of the power spectrum of some one-dimensional random surfaces recently fabricated by West and O'Donnell. These surfaces, which can be realized experimentally, favor coherent, interferent, multiple scattering of electromagnetic waves via surface plasmon polaritons in intermediate states, and clearly exhibit enhanced backscattering caused by the surface plasmon polariton mechanism. Theoretical results are presented for silver surfaces at optical wavelengths.     

Application of the finite element method to Monte Carlo simulations of scattering of waves by random rough surfaces: penetrable case

Abstract

The finite element method (FEM) of Monte Carlo simulations of random rough surface scattering is extended to penetrable rough surface scattering. The attraction of the method is the banded nature of the resulting matrix equation. The method yields a system of linear algebraic equations which is solved by a direct sparse symmetric matrix inversion. Convergence and accuracy of the method is demonstrated and established by varying various input parameters such as the number of evanescent waves, the number of sampling points and the surface lengths. Results with incident plane wave TE polarization are presented for both the mean reflected scattered intensity and the mean transmitted scattered intensity as a function of surface parameters such as RMS surface heights and correlation lengths. The numerical results are compared against the tapered wave integral equation (TWIE) method. The results of a tapered wave solution of the integral equation averaging over many realizations are in good numerical agreement with FEM if large surface lengths are used in the integral equation method. It is found that a large surface length is required in the TWIE method to have a narrow incident angular spectlum to accurateiy predict the transmitted scattered intensity, whereas a relatively small surface length is sufficient in the FEM. The total CPU time and memory storage requirements for the FEM are much less than that of the TWIE method for eases when the number of horizontal sampling points is much larger than the number of vertical sampling points in the region of discretization. The percentage error in conservation of energy for the FEM is shown to be less than 0.4% for all the examples presented. The total CPU time, memory storage requirements and the percentage error comparisons between the FEM and the TWIE are presented.     

Bistatic electromagnetic scattering from a three-dimensional perfect electric conducting object above a Gaussian rough surface based on the Kirchhoff–Helmholtz and electric field integral equation

A hybrid integral equation is developed to solve the problem of electromagnetic (EM) scattering from a three-dimensional (3D) perfect electric conducting (PEC) object above a two-dimensional (2D) PEC or dielectric Gaussian rough surface. Firstly, the Kirchhoff–Helmholtz (KH) equation is adopted to describe the wave reflection on the rough surface; only one integral operation on the rough surface is needed, and the scattering from the object can be described by solving the electric field integral equation (EFIE) on the surface of the object. Moreover, according to scattering theory, the KH equation and the EFIE are coupled together (KH-EFIE) to describe wave propagation between the object and the rough surface. Then method of moments (MoM) is adopted to solve the KH-EFIE, and the current is obtained to calculate the scattering field. Finally, compared with other methods, the accuracy of the proposed approach is validated, and its efficiency is proved to be much higher than numerical solutions. Furthermore, by calculating the statistic composite radar cross-section (RCS) of the object/surface and the difference radar cross-section (DRCS) of the object, the influence of the rough surface root mean square (rms) height, the correlation length, the medium permittivity, the shape of the object, and the altitude of the object on the scattering characteristic is investigated.     

Study of MPI based on parallel MOM on PC clusters for EM-beam scattering by 2-D PEC rough surfaces

This paper firstly applies the finite impulse response filter (FIR) theory combined with the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method to generate two-dimensional Gaussian rough surface. Using the electric field integral equation (EFIE), it introduces the method of moment (MOM) with RWG vector basis function and Galerkin's method to investigate the electromagnetic beam scattering by a two-dimensional PEC Gaussian rough surface on personal computer (PC) clusters. The details of the parallel conjugate gradient method (CGM) for solving the matrix equation are also presented and the numerical simulations are obtained through the message passing interface (MPI) platform on the PC clusters. It finds significantly that the parallel MOM supplies a novel technique for solving a two-dimensional rough surface electromagnetic-scattering problem. The influences of the root-mean-square height, the correlation length and the polarization on the beam scattering characteristics by two-dimensional PEC Gaussian rough surfaces are finally discussed.     

A heuristic model approximation for scattering from perfectly conducting one-dimensional random rough surfaces

Abstract

We propose a model for scattering from one-dimensional, perfectly conducting, slightly rough surfaces. A possible method for solving the scattering equations is examined which, with some assumptions, suggests the final result. The approximation is relatively simple and is comparable in computational effort with most first-order theories. We compare the bistatic scattering cross section for TE waves predicted by the present model for Gaussian randomly rough surfaces with numerical simulations and with some first-order theories. The comparison shows that the model is remarkably accurate for slightly rough surfaces and TE polarization.     

Theoretical and computational aspects of scattering from rough surfaces: one-dimensional perfectly reflecting surfaces

Abstract

We discuss the scattering of acoustic or electromagnetic waves from one-dimensional rough surfaces. We restrict the discussion in this report to perfectly reflecting Dirichlet surfaces (TE polarization). The theoretical development is for both infinite and periodic surfaces, the latter equations being derived from the former. We include both derivations for completeness of notation. Several theoretical developments are presented. They are characterized by integral equation solutions for the surface current or normal derivative of the total field. All the equations are discretized to a matrix system and further characterized by the sampling of the rows and columns of the matrix which is accomplished in either coordinate space (C) or spectral space (S). The standard equations are referred to here as CC equations of either the first (CC1) or second kind (CC2). Mixed representation, or SC-type, equations are solved as well as SS equations fully in spectral space.

Computational results are presented for scattering from various periodic surfaces. The results include examples with grazing incidence, a very rough surface and a highly oscillatory surface. The examples vary over a parameter set which includes the geometrical optics regime, physical optics or resonance regime, and a renormalization regime.

The objective of this study was to determine the best computational method for these problems. Briefly, the SC method was the fastest, but it did not converge for large slopes or very rough surfaces for reasons we explain. The SS method was slower and had the same convergence difficulties as SC. The CC methods were extremely slow but always converged. The simplest approach is to try the SC method first. Convergence, when the method works, is very fast. If convergence does not occur with SC, then SS should be used, and failing that CC.     

Rigorous and approximate methods for modeling wave scattering from a locally perturbed perfectly conducting surface

Rigorous and approximate methods are considered for solving the problem of harmonic plane wave scattering from a plane surface arbitrarily perturbed along one dimension on a finite interval. This problem is treated using the Fredholm integral equations of the second kind and the Kirchhoff and Rayleigh approximations. The estimates of the computational efficiency of the integral equation method and the Rayleigh approximation are compared by calculating fields scattered from random rough surfaces in the resonance region (i.e., when the roughness height is comparable to or smaller than the incident wavelength) for an arbitrary incidence of a plane wave. Scattering patterns calculated using the integral equations and the Kirchhoff approximation are discussed in the case of large-scale random rough surface scattering. Particular attention is paid to scattering at near-grazing incidence.     

Monostatic and bistatic statistical shadowing functions from a one-dimensional stationary randomly rough surface: II. Multiple scattering

Abstract

The integral equation model (IEM) has been developed over the last decade and it has become one of the most widely used theoretical models for rough-surface scattering in microwave remote sensing. In the IEM model the shadowing function is typically either omitted or a form based on geometric optics with single reflection is used. In this paper, a shadowing function for one-dimensional rough surfaces which incorporates multiple scattering, finite surface length and both monostatic and bistatic configurations is developed. For any uncorrelated process, the resulting equation can be expressed in terms of the monostatic statistical shadowing function with single reflection, derived in the preceding companion paper. The effect of correlation between the surface slopes and heights for a Gaussian surface is studied to illuminate the range over which such correlations can be ignored. It is found that while the correlation between surface slopes and heights in the monostatic statistical shadowing function with single reflection can be ignored, when calculating the average shadowing function with double reflection the correlation between slopes and heights between points must be incorporated.     

Accurate,high-order representation of complex three-dimensional surfaces via Fourier continuation analysis

We present a new method for construction of high-order parametrizations of surfaces: starting from point clouds, the method we propose can be used to produce full surface parametrizations (by sets of local charts, each one representing a large surface patch – which, typically, contains thousands of the points in the original point-cloud) for complex surfaces of scientific and engineering relevance. The proposed approach accurately renders both smooth and non-smooth portions of a surface: it yields super-algebraically convergent Fourier series approximations to a given surface up to and including all points of geometric singularity, such as corners, edges, conical points, etc. In view of their C^∞ smoothness (except at true geometric singularities) and their properties of high-order approximation, the surfaces produced by this method are suitable for use in conjunction with high-order numerical methods for boundary value problems in domains with complex boundaries, including PDE solvers, integral equation solvers, etc. Our approach is based on a very simple concept: use of Fourier analysis to continue smooth portions of a piecewise smooth function into new functions which, defined on larger domains, are both smooth and periodic. The “continuation functions” arising from a function f converge super-algebraically to f in its domain of definition as discretizations are refined. We demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach for a number of surfaces of engineering relevance.