A Monte Carlo Method for Simulating Scattering From Sea Ice Using FVTD

A scattering model based on a Monte Carlo method and the finite-volume time-domain (FVTD) method has been created for sea ice scattering simulations. Statistical methods were used to generate a Gaussian-distributed randomly rough surface. The Polder-Van Santen-de Loor (PVD) model was used to estimate the sea ice dielectric values with inputs based upon actual measured physical variables obtained during field-based experiments and well-known parameterizations. Scattering simulations were performed through an application of the scattered-field (SF) formulation invoked in an FVTD computational engine. Simulated SFs were compared with C-band scatterometer measurements and showed good agreement for copolarized signals in a series of case studies. The developed simulation method has the potential to be used for a variety of sea ice types under different physical conditions.