A time domain rough surface scattering model based on wedge diffraction: application to low-frequency backscattering from two-dimensional sea surfaces

A time domain method for calculating the acoustic impulse response of impenetrable, rough, two-dimensional (2D) surfaces is presented. The method is based on an extension of the wedge assemblage (WA) method to 2D surfaces and objects. Like the WA method for one-dimensional (1D) surfaces, the approach for 2D surfaces uses Biot's and Tolstoy's exact solution for the impulse response of an infinite impenetrable wedge [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 29, 381-391 (1957)] as its fundamental building block. The validity of the WA method for backscattering from 2D sea surfaces is assessed through comparisons with calculations based on Milder's operator expansion (OE) method [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 529-541 (1991)]. Average intensities for backscattering from 2D fully developed seas (20 m/s wind speed) were computed by the WA and OE methods using 50 surface realizations and compared at 11 frequencies between 100 and 200 Hz. A single, moderately low grazing angle of incidence (20 degrees) and several scattered grazing angles (90 degrees, 45 degrees, 20 degrees , and 10 ) were considered. Excellent overall agreement between the two models was obtained. The utility of the WA method as a tool to describe the physics of the scattering process is also discussed.