A new bistatic model for electromagnetic scattering from perfectly conducting random surfaces

Abstract In this paper, we extend the Kirchhoff approach, which is widely used for near-nadir backscattering calculations, to include the proper polarization sensitivity for general bistatic scattering from gently sloping, perfectly conducting surfaces. Previously, Holliday has shown how the inclusion of terms from the second iteration of the surface-current integral equation is required to obtain agreement with the small perturbation method for backscattering conditions. Here we employ a similar approach by retaining all terms in this iterative expansion through first order in the surface slope to derive expressions for the standard Kirchhoff field as well as for a supplementary field that contains the polarization sensitivity. A polarization vector notation is introduced to simplify the inclusion of tilting effects from larger-scale features on the scattering surface. In connection with this latter development, we provide a clarification of the earlier work by Valenzuela on this topic together with an extension to the bistatic problem. These extensions to the standard Kirchhoff approach form the basis for our composite bistatic scattering model which should provide a convenient and powerful tool for calculations involving passive as well as active microwave scattering from random surfaces.