Speckle from rough, moving objects

A general theory is presented for the characteristics of speckle when electromagnetic waves are scattered by a rotating, rough surface which has underlying shape features. An expression is derived for the cross-correlation function of the electric field scattered to two different observation points, with the two states including wavelength changes as well as object motion. This function is the basic building block from which to study remote sensing of object features using FM-laser systems or to study the spectral broadening caused by object rotation. Illustrative calculations are presented for rotating cylinders and for roughened spheres.