A novel FDTD based model for prediction of bistatic RCS of single leaves and trees

Accurate modelling of the propagation modes arising from vegetation media depends, on the one hand, on the physical parameters specific to the tree, such as size, shape, orientation and moisture contents of leaves, branches and trunk. On the other hand, the parameters of the radio link associated with the operational frequency, directions of transmit and receive antennas, their heights, beamwidths and polarisation add extra complexity to the characteristics and understanding of the scattering modes from single trees. We describe the development of a novel method, which will enable accurate modelling of leaves, trunk and branches. The method is aimed at studying the propagation modes arising from interaction with single trees at 20 GHz, using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique. It is proposed as a means of accurately computing electromagnetic scattering by arbitrary-shaped relatively complex metal or dielectric objects excited by an external plane wave