Abstract:
Acoustic scattering from vegetation is a complicated problem that depends on a number of plant characteristics including biomass distribution, plant spacing, plant height, leaf size and shape, and the acoustic impedance of the plant material. A theory for acoustic scattering from vegetation could be the basis for a noninvasive acoustic measurement of some of these characteristics, particularly biomass distribution. Two possible techniques to characterize scattering from vegetation are the multiple scattering approach and the porous medium approach. In the multiple scattering approach, the vegetation is treated as a slab of scatterers with a random distribution. In the porous medium approach, the vegetation is treated as a porous material with a very high porosity. In this talk, both approaches are examined, and their predictions are compared for forms of vegetation such as wheat, corn, cotton, and soybeans.