Three-Dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain Simulation For Scattering Computation From Soil Surface

The research on electromagnetic scattering from random rough surface plays an important role on the scientific investigation and engineering applications of the microwave remote sensing. In this paper, finite difference time domain (FDTD) is employed to calculate the backscattering coefficients from soil surface in terms of angular, frequency, RMS height, correlation length and moisture, the errors are less than 3dB between the numerical simulation and advanced integral equation model (AIEM) in most cases. This technique is also used to solve the backscattering coefficient of the bare soil surface of Qionglai, Sichuan, the angular trends are generally in good consistency with the ground-based scatterometer data.