Polarimetric scattering model for grassy terrain

Summary form only given. Information obtained from the polarimetric scattering response of a soil surface can lead to an accurate estimate of its soil moisture content. A scattering model has been developed which provides an exact numerical solution to scattering from stalks and leaves of arbitrary cross sections, orientations, and lengths. Because the constituent cross sections are assumed to be electrically small, a 2D Rayleigh scattering approximation was employed and polarizability tensors were determined numerically. The dipole moments per unit length were then calculated, and integrating these values over the length of each constituent resulted in an expression for the total scattered field. These results were combined with a statistical description of a grassy vegetation cover to provide the phase and extinction matrices required for a first order vector radiative transfer scattering model. This model was used to investigate the dependence of the total polarimetric scattering response on both soil and vegetation parameters.<>