A Fully Polarimetric Scattering Model For A Coniferous Forest

Abstract

For an elliptically polarized plane wave exciting a coniferous forested canopy a fully polarimetric scattering model has been developed to account for the size and orientation distributions of each forest constituent. A canopy is divided into three layers over a rough interface. The upper two layers represent the crown with its constituents (leaves, stems, and branches). The lower layer stands for the trunks and the rough interface is the canopy-ground interface. For a plane wave exciting the canopy, the explicit expressions for the bistatic scattering coefficient associated with each scattering mechanism are given. For an elliptically polarized incidence wave, the present model can be recast in a form suitable for polarimetric wave synthesis. The model validation is justified by comparing the measured and the calculated values of the backscattering coefficients for a linearly polarized incident wave. The comparison is made over a wide range of frequencies and incident angles. Numerical simulations are conducted to calculate the radar polarization signature of the canopy for different incident frequencies and angles.