Since the fIrst edition of this book was published in the 1994, the
theory of wave scattering from rough surfaces has continued to develop
intensively. The community of researchers working in this area keeps
growing, which provides justifIcation for issuing this second edition.
In preparing the second edition, I was challenged by the problem of se-
lecting new material from the many important results obtained recently.
Even- tually, a new section was added to the central Chap. 6 of this
book. This sec- tion describes the operator expansion technique put
forward by M. Milder, which conforms well with the general approach
adopted in the book and which to my mind is one of the most promising.
Remote sensing of the terrain and ocean surface represents one of the
most important and interesting challenges to the theory of wave
scattering from rough surfaces. Rapid progress in electronics results in
sensors with new capabilities. New powerful computers and data
communication systems allow more sophisticated data processing
techniques. What information about soil or air-sea interaction processes
can be obtained from gigaflops of data streaming from air-or space-borne
radars? To use this information efficiently, one cannot rely entirely on
heuristic approaches and needs adequate theory. I hope that this book
will contribute to progress in this important area.