Ray propagation in nonuniform random lattices

The problem of optical ray propagation in a nonuniform random half-plane lattice is considered. An external source radiates a planar monochromatic wave impinging at an angle theta on a half-plane random grid where each cell can be independently occupied with probability q(j) = 1-p(j), j being the row index. The wave undergoes specular reflections on the occupied cells, and the probability of penetrating up to level h inside the lattice is analytically estimated. Numerical experiments validate the proposed approach and show improvement upon previous results that appeared in the literature. Applications are in the field of remote sensing and communications, where estimation of the penetration of electromagnetic waves in disordered media is of interest. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.