Albedos And Glitter Patterns Of A Wind-Roughened Sea Surface

The downward albedo (irradiance reflectance) r_ and the upward albedo r+ of a random air-water surface, formed by capillary waves, are computed as a function of lighting conditions and wind speed by Monte Carlo means for incident unpolarized radiant flux. The possibility of multiple scattering of light rays and of ray-shielding of waves by other waves is included in the calculations. The Monte Carlo procedure is used to generate reflected and transmitted glitter patterns as functions of wind speed and sun position. Plots of the Monte Carlo r± are drawn as functions of wind speed and angle of incidence of light rays. The albedos r±; are also found for various continuous radiance distributions simulating overcast skies and upwelling submarine light fields just below the air-water surface.