Electromagnetic Scattering in Microwave Remote Sensing and Fluctuation Electrodynamics

Abstract:

Advancement of the remote sensing technology led the radar and radiometry measurement to a level of accuracy that correct interpretation of the measurement and relating those to the unknown parameters under study requires physical models that can resemble the real-life situation as close and accurate as possible. Along with the accuracy, for the real time implementation the model should be simple enough.  This is where the analytical solution of the physical problem manifest itself against brute force numerical methods in terms of the fast evaluation, and more importantly the insight that it provides.  In this work, physical forward models for thermal radiation from the polar ice sheets are studied from different perspectives.

Another phenomenon which is closely related to the thermal radiation is the Casimir stress exerted on the object; both originate in the fluctuation of electromagnetic fields. This correlation is utilized to cast the Casimir stress into an electromagnetic scattering problem which is studied for canonical geometries.  Quantum fluctuation of the electromagnetic fields never disappear, even at absolute zero temperature. Therefore, the Casimir stress imposes a fundamental limit on the manufacturing of nano-scale structures.

Chair: Professor Leung Tsang