An effective computational method and analysis of scattering characteristics for sea surface foam layer

Abstract

The optical properties of oceanic foam are crucial for satellite remote sensing inversion and target identification, with the volume scattering properties of foam layers significantly influencing the directionality of light scattering, making them a focal point in sea surface scattering research. To achieve efficient computation and analysis of the volume scattering properties of foam layers, this paper establishes a large-scale foam aggregate light scattering model based on geometric optics theory. An efficient algorithm for the foam volume scattering phase function was developed using GPU acceleration, and its convergence and acceleration performance were analyzed and evaluated. Furthermore, the influences of various factors, including different fractal models, particle numbers, random orientations of fractal structures, and asymmetric geometries, on the average volume scattering properties of the foam multi-spherical aggregates were analyzed. The results indicate that the influences of the fractal structures, particle numbers, and orientations of fractal structures on the average scattering properties is minimal, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99. This study provides an efficient algorithm for obtaining the average volume scattering phase function of foam, offering strong support for further research on sea surface scattering characteristics involving foam layers.