Theoretical and computational aspects of scattering from rough surfaces: one-dimensional perfectly reflecting surfaces

Abstract

We discuss the scattering of acoustic or electromagnetic waves from one-dimensional rough surfaces. We restrict the discussion in this report to perfectly reflecting Dirichlet surfaces (TE polarization). The theoretical development is for both infinite and periodic surfaces, the latter equations being derived from the former. We include both derivations for completeness of notation. Several theoretical developments are presented. They are characterized by integral equation solutions for the surface current or normal derivative of the total field. All the equations are discretized to a matrix system and further characterized by the sampling of the rows and columns of the matrix which is accomplished in either coordinate space (C) or spectral space (S). The standard equations are referred to here as CC equations of either the first (CC1) or second kind (CC2). Mixed representation, or SC-type, equations are solved as well as SS equations fully in spectral space.

Computational results are presented for scattering from various periodic surfaces. The results include examples with grazing incidence, a very rough surface and a highly oscillatory surface. The examples vary over a parameter set which includes the geometrical optics regime, physical optics or resonance regime, and a renormalization regime.

The objective of this study was to determine the best computational method for these problems. Briefly, the SC method was the fastest, but it did not converge for large slopes or very rough surfaces for reasons we explain. The SS method was slower and had the same convergence difficulties as SC. The CC methods were extremely slow but always converged. The simplest approach is to try the SC method first. Convergence, when the method works, is very fast. If convergence does not occur with SC, then SS should be used, and failing that CC.