Curvature effects in the composite model for low-grazing-angle rough-surface scatter

The conventional composite surface model used for calculations of radar backscatter treats a large-scale surface component as an ensemble of tilted flat facets. This approach has limitations for low grazing angles. In the paper we develop a new composite model that takes into account the diffraction of an incident field on a curved, large-scale undulating surface. It is shown that, whereas corrections related to curvature effects are small for a steep incidence, those corrections for low-grazing-angle backscatter can be quite essential. Results of numerical simulations of radar backscattering cross sections for two polarizations are presented. Scattering from a surface with one-dimensionally varying roughness is considered. We have studied the role of undulating surface slopes and curvatures in the behaviour of the polarization ratio and found regimes in which the curvature influence on this ratio is more pronounced.