Modeling of Height Spectrum and Radar Cross Section of Oil Slicks on Sea Surfaces

The influence of oil pollution over sea surfaces on the height spectrum of rough surfaces is studied. An oil slick covering the sea damps the capillarity waves of the surface height spectrum and reduces the root mean square slope of the surfaces. These modifications have an influence on the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of contaminated seas. The bistatic NRCS of the contaminated sea surface is then persented by comparison with a clean sea: results from a benchmark numerical model are presented and compared with a new semi-empirical approach using asymptotic models, like the weighted curvature approximation.