A new model for sea clutter

First-order (small roughness amplitude) scattering theory is applied to obtain sea clutter cross sections in terms of mean-squared height spectrum of the sea surface. The results are in remarkably good agreement with observations for vertical polarization at
P-, L-, C-
, and
X
-bands. Modification of the calculation to take into account the larger scale structure of the sea surface yields reasonable agreement for horizontal polarization at
P
- and
L
-bands but is less successful for the cross-polarized and horizontal cross sections at
C
- and
X
-bands.