Backscattering from small-scale breaking wave turbulence structure generated by FLUENT

Abstract

A breaking wave can exert a great influence on the electromagnetic (EM) scattering result from sea surfaces. In this paper, the process of small-scale wave breaking is simulated by the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT, and the backscattering radar cross section (RCS) of the turbulence structure after breaking is calculated with the method of moments. The scattering results can reflect the turbulent intensities of the wave profiles and can indicate high polarization ratios at moderate incident angles, which should be attributed to the incoherent backscatter from surface disturbance of turbulence structure. Compared with the wave profile before breaking, the turbulence structure has no obvious geometrical characteristic of a plunging breaker, and no sea spikes are present at large incident angles either. In summary, the study of EM scattering from turbulence structure can provide a basis to explain the anomalies of EM scattering from sea surfaces and help us understand the scattering mechanism about the breaking wave more completely.