Electromagnetic scattering from grassland. Part II: Measurement and modeling results

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2000, Vol.38 (1), p.349-356
• Main Authors: STILES, J. M, SARABANDI, K, ULABY, F. T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied geophysics; Data reduction; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Electromagnetic wave backscattering; Exact sciences and technology; Internal geophysics; Mathematical models; Soils; Surficial geology; Vegetation
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/36.823930

The validity of a coherent, grassland scattering model is determined by comparing the model predictions with direct measurements of a representative grass canopy. A wheat field was selected as the test target, and polarimetric, multifrequency backscattering data were collected over an entire growing season, along with a complete set of ground-truth data. The L-band measured data demonstrated a strong dependence on azimuthal look direction in relation to the row direction of the wheat. The C-band measurements likewise showed an interesting backscattering response, wherein sigma super(o) sub(v) sub(v) actually increased with incidence angle for many cases. The coherent scattering model provides backscattering data that match and predict these measured data and most of the other measured data well. The model shows that at L-band, the incoherent scattering power alone is insufficient for predicting the measured results, as the coherent terms can dominate the total scattered energy. Additionally, the model, which accounts for this nonuniform illumination of the wheat elements, demonstrates the peculiar data observed for C-band. Likewise, it is demonstrated that the fidelity used to model grass constituents (e.g., curvature) is required to match the scattering measurements accurately.