Monte Carlo study and statistical description of the radar scattering from 2D ships on rough sea surfaces

The results of a Monte Carlo simulation of the radar cross section (RCS) of 2D targets on a rough sea surface are presented. Numerical data has been generated using the generalized forward-backward (GFB) method to compute the RCS as a function of incidence angle and wind speed for a large number of surface realizations. From the Monte Carlo simulation it is found that the mean RCS of a given target on a rough surface is generally lower than or equal to the RCS of the same target on a flat surface, while the maximum RCS is usually greater than or equal to the flat surface case. It is also observed that the variations in the RCS introduced by the rough surface become less significant as the elevation angle approaches grazing. The simulation data was used to obtain the statistical distributions that best fit the numerical results.