Scattering from a random surface

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1980 · J. Acoust. Soc. Am.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1121/1.385113· OSTI ID:6895185

Abarbanel, H D.I.

We give a formulation of the problem of propagation of scalar waves over a random surface. By a judicious choice of variables we are able to show that this situation is equivalent to propagation of these waves through a medium of random fluctuations with fluctuating source and receiver. The wave equation in the new coordinates has an additional term, the fluctuation operator, which depends on derivatives of the surface in space and time. An expansion in the fluctuation operator is given which guarantees the desired boundary conditions at every order. We treat both the cases where the surface is time dependent, such as the sea surface, or fixed in time. Also discussed is the situation where the source and receiver lie between the random surface and another, possibly also random, surface. In detail we consider acoustic waves for which the surfaces are pressure release. The method is directly applicable to electromagnetic waves and other boundary conditions.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
• OSTI ID: 6895185
• Journal Information: J. Acoust. Soc. Am.; (United States), Vol. 68:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
58 GEOSCIENCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
SCATTERING
SEAS
SOUND WAVES
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
FLUCTUATIONS
RANDOMNESS
SCALARS
SURFACES
TIME DEPENDENCE
WAVE EQUATIONS
WAVE PROPAGATION
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
RADIATIONS
SURFACE WATERS
VARIATIONS
657004* - Theoretical Physics- Acoustics- (-1987)
580500 - Oceanography- (1980-1989)
657007 - Electricity & Magnetism- (-1987)