Explanation of the experimental results of light backscattered from a very rough surface*

We have calculated reflected and refracted electromagnetic waves from a rough surface with the boundary conditions exactly satisfied. The surface model consists of three parameters: the dimension of the independent cells, h; the parameter in the slope distribution function of the tangent plane t0; and the average radius of curvature of the surface, R. Within the reasonable range of these parameters, we have calculated the polarized component P and the depolarized component D measured by Renau et al. and have found the following features of the scattering of the reflected wave from a rough surface that have not been previously explained theoretically. (i) P and D have very different angular dependences. (ii) Whereas P is a sensitive function of t0, D is almost independent of t0. (iii) D does not vanish at all angles. A qualitative comparison between the data and the calculation is given.