Radar image study of simulated breaking waves

Radar images of electromagnetic scattering from one-dimensional simulated ocean breaking waves are described. Backscatter results from 10-14 GHz at 60/spl deg/ to 80/spl deg/ incident angles are considered for surfaces that satisfy an impedance boundary condition. The generalized forward-backward method with spectral accelerations was used as an exact numerical solution to obtain backscatter returns from several surface profiles, and radar images are formed through back-projection tomography. Detailed investigations of the images are provided to clarify major and secondary scattering events, as well as the polarization dependence, and a ray-tracing analysis is performed to interpret multipath scattering mechanisms. By adding surface roughness outside the breaking region, small-scale roughness scattering effects are also investigated.