POLARIMETRIC THERMAL EMISSION FROM ROUGH OCEAN SURFACES

A numerical study of the polarimetric thermal emission from ocean surf aces randomly rough in one dimension using a Monte Carlo technique is Presented. In this study, a set of finite length surface profiles with desired statistics was generated using a spectral method. Each surfac e was extended periodically to create an infinite rough surface, and t he thermal emission was computed using the extended boundary condition method (EBC) and the method of moments (MOM). The results from the se t of surfaces were then averaged to obtain the Monte Carlo estimate of polarimetric thermal emission. The surfaces statistics chosen were in tended to model a wind perturbed ocean surface in the x to K(u) band m icrowave region. The results of the study show that the third Stokes p arameter, U(B), is sensitive to the azimuthal angle between the surfac e periodicity and the looking angle, the rms height of the surface, an d the surface power law spectrum slope, and that this parameter is ins ensitive to variations in polar angle, permittivity, and surface spect rum high frequency content.