Computing the double-bounce reflection coherent effect in an incoherent electromagnetic scattering model

One of the main limitations of electromagnetic incoherent vegetation models based on the radiative transfer theory concerns their inability to take into account the coherent effect occurring in a double-bounce scattering mechanism. This is particularly important for low-frequency synthetic aperture radar applications over forested areas, where large branch and trunk contributions may be preponderant. In this letter, an easily computable solution based on the reciprocity theorem is proposed. The coherent effect contribution is obtained directly from the radiative transfer incoherent solution through a straightforward correction algorithm. Compared to the classical vector radiative transfer first-order solution, this method provides the exact cross-polarized contribution to the radar cross section or to the polarimetric parameters computation. The theoretical developments are illustrated using electromagnetic full-wave and approximate scattering models.