Using a clustering technique for detection of moving targets in clutter-cancelled QuickSAR images

Abstract

The ability to detect and track moving targets in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images has become a topic of much current research. The authors have been reporting on a multi-channel phase interferometry technique for detecting moving targets in SAR images for some time. They have also shown that the phase interferometry between two channels can be utilized to cancel ground clutter from one channel by subtracting a phase-weighted version of the image from the other channel. This is analogous to, but not the same as, the well known DPCA (displaced phase center antenna) technique for clutter cancellation. This paper reports on a clustering technique we have successfully used to detect moving targets, which in almost all cases occupy many more than one or a few pixels in the clutter-cancelled SAR image. This technique greatly reduces false alarms.