Multiple incidence angle SIR-B forest observations

Abstract

Multiple incident angle L-band HH radar image data recorded during the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) mission over a pine plantation in Australia are used to investigate the nature of forest backscattering and its dependence on the incidence angle. A relative amplitude calibration procedure, based on the assumption of Lambertian behavior of new plantings, is used to enable images recorded at different angles to be compared. It is seen that forest backscattering exhibits a maximum with the angle of incidence consistent with predictions from a double-bounce model involving the trunk and the ground. Over a range of practical values of the canopy extinction coefficient, it is shown that the maximum occurs in the vicinity of 35°. Show more