Electromagnetic scattering model for a tree trunk above a tilted ground plane

An efficient and realistic electromagnetic scattering model for a tree trunk above a ground plane is presented. The trunk is modeled as a finite-length stratified dielectric cylinder with a corrugated bark layer. The ground is considered to be a smooth homogeneous dielectric with an arbitrary slope. The bistatic scattering response of the cylinder is obtained by invoking two approximations. In the microwave region, the height of the tree trunks are usually much larger than the wavelength. Therefore the interior fields in a finite length cylinder representing a tree trunk can be approximated with those of an infinite cylinder with the same physical and electrical radial characteristics. Also an approximate image theory is used to account for the presence of the dielectric ground plane which simply introduces an image excitation wave and an image scattered field. An asymptotic solution based on the physical optics approximation is derived which provides a fast algorithm with excellent accuracy when the radii of the tree trunks are large compared to the wavelength. The effect of a bark layer is also taken into account by simply replacing the bark layer with an anisotropic layer. It is shown that the corrugated layer acts as an impedance transformer which may significantly decrease the backscattering radar cross section depending on the corrugation parameters. It is also shown that for a tilted ground plane a significant cross-polarized backscattered signal is generated while the co-polarized backscattered signal is reduced