Modelling of directional rows structure on soil surface and their effect on radar microwave measurements

A difference is generally observed between radar measurements done in parallel and perpendicular directions to rows. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of rows on backscattering in agricultural soil surfaces using a numerical approach. The first part of this study focuses on the generation of three dimensional surfaces by considering an isotropic small scale structure added to the directional structure of rows. The second part concerns numerical modelling of backscattering for the two directions by using the moment method. The authors observe a strong effect of rows on backscattering simulations, but the magnitude of the phenomenon depends on small scales structure on the soil surface.