Canopy penetration studies: modeled radar backscatter from Amazon floodplain forests at C-, L-, and P-band

For radar incidence angles ranging from 20 to 60°, modeled canopy volume scattering from a flooded forest in the Amazon dominated C-HH, C-VV, and L-VV backscatter. Between 20 and 35° incidence angles and at L-HH polarization, modeled canopy-ground term and canopy volume scattering contributed roughly equally to the total backscatter, and there was some contribution from the trunk-ground term. Canopy-ground (at small incidence angles) and trunk-ground terms (at large incidence angles) were dominant at P-HH and P-VV backscatter. The dominant canopy volume scattering at C-HH, C-VV, and L-VV showed that radar systems with these parameters could not penetrate the canopies in the stands. When trunk-ground and canopy-ground terms dominated or contributed significantly to the total backscatter, microwave energy penetrated the canopies. Thus, a L-HH, P-HH, or P-VV radar system could penetrate the canopies, and, potentially, detect boundaries between flooded and nonflooded forests.