The effects of topography on mechanisms of radar backscatter from coniferous forest and upland pasture

Multifrequency, polarimetric airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data of a Sitka spruce plantation and moorland area on upland terrain in the United Kingdom are studied to quantify the effects of topography on mean backscatter and the relative importance of volume, surface, and double-bounce scattering mechanisms as estimated using a simple decomposition scattering model.