Analytical, experimental, and numerical studies of angular memory signatures of waves scattered from one-dimensional rough surfaces

It is known that a change in the direction of an incident wave on a random medium is “remembered” by the angular correlation characteristics of the scattered waves. This “memory effect” is studied for rough-surface scattering by means of theoretical [second-order Kirchhoff approximation (KA)], numerical (Monte Carlo simulations), and experimental (millimeter-wave range) approaches. The second-order KA has been found to be effective for wave scattering from very rough surfaces with large radii of curvature and high slopes (0.5-1.5). Although the second-order KA is based on a number of approximations including the geometrical optics approximation and the approximate forms of the shadowing functions, excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulations and millimeter-wave experiments was achieved. The results are presented in a form of memory signatures which clearly exhibit the important features of this effect