| Abstract: | We develop an asymptotic theory of nonresonant backscattering of electromagnetic waves in the X-band by the ocean surface. Small-height (5÷20 cm) breaking surface waves with sharpened edges are assumed to be the main cause of nonresonant scattering. Using the methods of physical optics and geometrical theory of diffraction, we calculate the contribution of breaking sharpened waves to the scattering cross section for two orthogonal polarizations of electromagnetic scattering. It is shown that the main contribution to the backscattering is from the mirror reflection from the leading edge of such a wave, and the sharpness of the wave edge leads to the fact that the backscattering cross section of horizontally polarized radiation can exceed that of the vertically polarized radiation. Institute for Space Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 240–254, March 1999. |
