Paddy Fields as Electrically Dense Media: Theoretical Modeling and Measurement Comparisons

Early models for paddy fields consist of a single-layered medium in which coherent effects within clusters of leaves are considered but multiple volume scattering is not. In this paper, the paddy canopy is modeled as a multilayered dense discrete random medium consisting of cylindrical and needle-shaped scatterers. Consideration is given to the coherent and near-field effects of the closely spaced scatterers through the Dense Medium Phase and Amplitude Correction Theory and Fresnel corrections, respectively, in the phase matrix. Then, this dense medium phase matrix is applied in the radiative transfer equations and solved up to the second order to consider double-volume scattering. Ground truth measurements of paddy fields were acquired at Sungai Burung, Selangor, Malaysia, for an entire season from the early vegetative stage of the plants to their reproductive stage. Measured parameters are used in the theoretical model to calculate the backscattering coefficients of paddy fields. Theoretical analysis of the simulation results shows in particular that second-order effects are important for cross-polarized backscatter data and that coherent effects need to be considered at lower frequencies. However, the use of needles to represent paddy leaves tends to underestimate the HH-polarized backscattering coefficients especially at the latter stages of plant growth, i.e., when the leaves are broader. The results are also used for comparisons with the backscattering coefficients obtained from RADARSAT images as well as that of earlier models to test the validity of the dense medium model with promising results.