INVESTIGATION OF DOPPLER SPECTRA OF SEA BACKSCATTER THROUGH LARGE-SCALE MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS: DIRECT NUMERICAL SOLUTION AND APPROXIMATE MODELS

The study simulates and analyses backscattering of a time-harmonic (continuous-wave) X-band signal from evolving ocean-like surfaces in the 2D space. For the same surface realization, the scattered field is evaluated using the direct numerical solution of a first-principles boundary integral equation, and with two approximate models: the coherent Two-Scale Model (CTSM) and the second-order Small Slope Approximation (SSA2). Large Monte Carlo ensembles are built up to evaluate well-averaged Doppler spectra. The investigation focuses on the two spectral parameters: centroid and width, with alternative definitions for the latter being discussed. A broad and finely sampled range of incidence angles is considered, providing a comprehensive and detailed view at the behavior of these quantities from nadir to low grazing. Using the same set of surfaces when calculating backscattered fields according to the exact and approximate methods provides a rigorous test for the accuracy of the chosen scattering models. The reported high-quality data from direct numerical simulations can serve as a benchmark for other scattering formulations.