Propagation in a two-dimensional periodic random medium with inhomogeneous particle distribution

The behavior of electromagnetic waves when propagating in a periodic random medium, such as a row-structured canopy, is considered. The semideterministic character of the particle distributions is represented by nonuniform extinction and phase matrices and the problem is formulated by the radiative transfer equation. Solution of the radiative transfer equation is pursued both iteratively and by using a numerical technique, based on the discrete-ordinate approximation and Taylor series expansion. It is shown that the numerical solution for the periodic canopy is computationally efficient, and a closed-form for the first-order solution (iterative approach) of the radiative transfer equation is obtained for periodic cases. The analytical and numerical results are compared with transmission measurements at L- and C-band frequencies for a corn canopy for a variety of canopy conditions, with good agreement