Radiative Energy Transfer Based Model for Radiowave Propagation in Inhomogeneous Forests

This paper presents a radiowave propagation model for inhomogeneous forests based on the radiative energy transfer theory (RET). This model, which is a discretised version of the RET, is able to simulate the behaviour of radiowaves inside a forest which contains various kinds of vegetation and free space gaps. To do this, the forest is divided into non-overlapping square cells, each one with different propagation characteristics. The propagation properties of each cell rely on specific propagation parameters, which are extracted from the vegetation using an appropriate practical method which is also described in this paper. The model performance is assessed through comparison with directional spectrum measurements carried out in an isolated inhomogeneous forest at 11.2 and 40 GHz.