A theoretical model for the backscattering strength of a composite roughness sea-surface

Abstract

The surface-backscattering strength is calculated according to Rayleigh theory for surface excursions much smaller than the sound wavelength. By taking into account of self-shadowing and modulation of grazing angles, the validity of the result is extended to arbitrary roughness. The predictions of this new composite-roughness scattering model are compared with a small set of experiment data.