Analysis of bistatic EM scattering by a polluted sea surface

Abstract

In this paper, we study and analyze the influence of the presence of pollutants on the electromagnetic (EM) signature of sea surface. We firstly analyze the pollutant effect on the geometrical and dielectric properties of the sea surface. Then we evaluate the EM scattering coefficients of a sea surface polluted by petrol emulsion or contaminated by oil layer observed in bistatic configuration. The bistatic scattering coefficients of a clean and a polluted sea surface are computed from the rigorous Forward-Backward Method (FBM) and the asymptotic models Small Slope Approximation (SSA) and Two Scale Model (TSM). The models used for the numerical simulation of bistatic scattering coefficients of clean and polluted sea surface have been analyzed as a function of various acquisition parameters such as (sea state, pollutant type, incidence angle, scattering angle, radar frequency and polarizations).