Forest bistatic scatttering at low frequencies: simulations and indoor measurements

We are interested in the bistatic scattering of a forest area at VHF-UHF band for FOPEN applications. A modelling tool is used to simulate different configurations and we present in this communication comparisons between simulated and real bistatic data collected by ONERA in one of their anechoic chambers. Two cases are namely analysed: first a single dielectric cylinder and then a group of vertical dielectric cylinders. 1. Context and configurations As matters stand, it is not possible to establish the relevancy of bistatic observations. Obviously, there is a clear advantage for a military point of view: a passive radar can be used as a delocalized receiver and an improvement in the detection of stealth target is expected. However, this research area is still in a nascent stage. There are still problems to solve to build a bistatic image and to calibrate bistatic data. Furthermore, we have to make our usual processing tools evolve from the monostatic to the bistatic case, and we might expect that this is not trivial, like for polarimetry. In the particular frame of forested areas observation, bistatic configurations are expected to improve biomass retrieval [1]. For FOliage PENetration (FOPEN) studies, bistatic observations could decrease the forest contribution, which is so high in the monostatic case, and therefore enhance the detection capabilities. Due to the few amount of available bistatic data, it appeared that the use of scattering models is crucial to make these studies progress. Few model