Simulation of radar scattering from electrically large objects under tree canopies

A model is developed to investigate the scattering behavior of hard targets embedded inside a forest canopy, at high frequencies. Wave penetration through, and scattering from, a forest canopy is calculated, using a coherent scattering model which makes use of realistic tree structures (Yi-Cheng Lin and Sarabandi, K., IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol.37, p.440-51, 1999). A physical optics (PO) approximation is used to estimate the equivalent current on an electrically large, perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) object, located above a ground plane and under a tree canopy. In this model, the reciprocity theorem is used effectively in order to derive the backscattering from the target above the ground plane, and also to calculate the interaction of the target scattered field with the foliage.