Scattering cross sections for composite models of non-Gaussian rough surfaces for which decorrelation implies statistical independence

The full wave approach is used to determine the scattering cross sections for composite models of non-Gaussian rough surfaces. It is assumed in this work that the rough surface heights become statistically independent when they decorrelate, thus no delta function type specular term appears in the expressions for the scattered fields. The broad family of non-Gaussian surfaces considered range in the limit from exponential to Gaussian. It is seen that for small angles of incidence the like polarized cross sections have the same dependence on the specific form of the surface height joint probability density, but for large angles the scattering cross sections for the horizontally polarized waves are much more sensitive to the specific form of the joint probability density. On the other hand the shadow functions are rather insensitive to the specific form of the joint probability density.