A simulation model is described which generates simulated images of underwater objects as viewed through a wind-roughened ocean surface. The physical model includes representations for the two-dimensional wavy surface (gravity waves), beam spread at the surface due to small scale roughness (capillary waves), and beam spread and attenuation due to multiple scattering and absorption in the water. The sensor is modeled as a monostatic imaging system of arbitrary incidence angle, with emphasis on LIDAR systems. Results of the simulations are presented, illustrating the distortion of images in active seas, and the loss of resolution due to surface and volumetric scattering.

Date Published: 22 December 1992
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 1749, Optics of the Air-Sea Interface: Theory and Measurement, (22 December 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.138867

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1749:
Optics of the Air-Sea Interface: Theory and Measurement
Leland Estep, Editor(s)