A canopy reflectance model based on an analytical solution to the multiple scattering equation

An approximation to the radiative transfer equation for solar radiation in relatively full, homogeneous plant canopies is presented and solved analytically for solar zenith angles less than 60 deg. The model predicts reflectance at any depth in the canopy and in any direction and may be inverted with bidirectional reflectance measurements. The model was fit to data at two sun angles and two wavebands (visible and NIR) to within the assumed errors on the reflectance data. The calculated albedos are insensitive to achievable measurement errors. Some of the parameter values themselves found by the inversion agree reasonably well with independent measurements, but the uncertainties introduced by the data noise are rather large. However, the agreement is good enough to demonstrate that the model is physically realistic.