Probability distributions of elevation and curvature of specular points at a statistically rough surface

When a random rough surface is illuminated by light or high-frequency radio waves, the specular reflected points make an ensemble, the statistical properties of which are of great interest not only for a general theory of scattering, but also for many practical applications, ranging from real-time monitoring of man-made surface roughness to sea roughness parameter measurements using sunlight flares at the surface. Apparently, M.S. Longuet-Higgins (see J. Opt. Soc. Am., vol.50, p.838-56, 1960) was the first to employ the theory of random functions for solving this problem. In particular, the explicit equations for the spatial density of extrema and saddle points were derived for Gaussian surfaces, and the fundamental relations between them were established. We use the general theory of random field excursions (Adler, R.J., 1981; Stoyan, D. et al., 1995) to obtain the statistical characteristics of specular points arising on random surfaces at normal incidence.