Radar measurements over the French Guiana mangrove

Helicopter-borne radar measurements over the intertropical zone of French Guiana have been conducted in order to test the capability of microwaves to penetrate the forest canopy. The sites investigated are coastal swamps covered with mangrove. Used in a high resolution (1m) configuration, the French FM-CW, bi-frequency scatterometer ERASME worked in a nadir looking mode and the vertical structure of the vegetation is studied. Interpretation of data is made by means of a simple water cloud model, the major mechanism of interaction between electromagnetic waves and vegetation taken into account is absorption. The results show that, in the case of mangrove trees, a rather good and simple interpretation is done with this model.