Radar measurement of forested areas during OTTER

To test a forest ecosystem model in the OTTER (Oregon ecosystem research) project, it is desirable to find forest canopy parameters via radar remote sensing measurements. Conventionally, forest biomass, along with quantities such as the leaf area index, drive the model. It is shown that the radar backscatter is not uniquely related to biomass. A sensitivity study is carried out using a forward scattering model to determine the variation of radar cross section as a function of several forest parameters. The results are used to find suitable quantities to recover via radar experiments. A parameter estimation scheme is developed to calculate some preliminary statistical properties of the forest.