Backscattering enhancement of electromagnetic waves from vegetation canopies

Monte Carlo simulation of the backscattering enhancement of electromagnetic waves from a vegetation canopy due to the volume-surface interaction is pr esented in this paper. A method of coherently adding up the scattered field s from scatterers is developed to illustrate the coherent scattering effect of backscattering enhancement. Results are compared with those of independ ent scattering, and they reveal that the angular width of the backscatterin g enhancement from the volume-surface interaction is appreciable for both H H and VV polarized waves. The variation of the the angular width with the c anopy height and the incident wave frequency is also presented. (C) 2000 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.