MICROWAVE PROPAGATION AND BACKSCATTER CHARACTERISTICS OF VEGETATION (REMOTE SENSING, RADAR, ATTENUATION)

The two major objectives satisfied in this investigation include the development of an improved semi-empirical model for microwave backscatter from vegetation and the acquisition of a complete set of canopy attenuation measurements as a function of frequency, incidence angle and polarization. The semi-empirical model was tested on corn and sorghum data over the 8-35 GHz range. The model generally provided an excellent fit to the data as measured by the correlation and rms error between observed and predicted data. The model also predicted reasonable values of canopy attenuation. The attenuation data was acquired over the 1.6 - 10.2 GHz range for the linear polarizations at approximately 20(DEGREES) and 50(DEGREES) incidence angles for wheat and soybeans. An attenuation model was proposed which provided reasonable agreement with the measured data.