A systems approach to the characterization of rough ground

A novel method for modelling rough surfaces as the output of linear filters operating on white noise in the spatial domain is proposed. These “systems” models may then be utilized in certain analytical methods proposed by the authors, which are not described herein but have been reported in full elsewhere [1, 2] to calculate the non-stationary response of vehicles moving on rough ground with variable velocity. Either time variable covariance or evolutionary spectra of response may be obtained by the method. Here, justification is provided for the use of such models and a method of estimating their parameters via Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis—a method well suited to this particular problem—is discussed.