Estimation of coherent field attenuation through dense foliage including multiple scattering

Single-scattering theory is shown to be insufficient for the estimation of effective propagation constant in foliage at high microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. Clusters of broad leaves and needles are treated as a unit scatterer whose ensemble forward scattering is used in Foldy’s approximation to estimate attenuation rate in foliage. It is shown that single-scattering approximation overestimates forward scattering as high as 3–4 dB at 35 GHz.