Self-shadowing influence on the reflection from a random stepped surface

The beam reflection from a stepped surface having a stochastic size of steps has been scrutinized using a geometrical optics approach. The coefficient that accounts for the effect of self-shadowing this type of surface is elaborated through auxiliary functions, each of them corresponding to the solution of integro-differential equation. In this paper the exact solution of these equations is constructed for the exponential function of the step height distribution density. In contrast to the earlier investigations this solution is validated for the finite distances between a receiver and a source and a random surface. © 2002 Begell House, Inc.