The differential equations describing radiative transfer in vegetative canopies as given by G.H. Suits are generalized and solved to derive a layer scattering matrix. Layer scattering matrices can be applied to the calculation of optical parameters for multilayer ensembles according to the Adding method. The application to atmospheric scattering is demonstrated by explaining path radiance, sky radiance, and other quantities in terras of elements from a layer scattering matrix and a surface reflectance matrix. By combining scattering matrices originating from atmospheric layers with those from earth objects, earth observation models can be constructed. These may become valuable tools in the study of various remote sensing problems.