Abstract
Time series of laser glint counts from the ocean surface exhibit fractal behavior. Glint-count histogram widths do not follow Gaussian statistics, and histogram shapes are approximately log normal. Fractal dimensions for the statistically self-similar glint-count time series are found from the power spectra, which have an inverse power-law form. Glint counts in one spatial dimension from a linearly scanning laser and glint counts in two spatial dimensions from a laser glint imager behave similarly. In both sets of data, spectral density peaks exist at frequencies corresponding to swell and long wind waves. This implies that the glint-count process contains information related to long-wave modulation of surface roughness.
© 1997 Optical Society of America
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