Phase-stability detection of stationary targets

Abstract

The SAR (synthetic aperture radar) detection of stationary targets hidden in highly cluttered environments by using phase stability is studied. The theoretical performance of such a detection scheme is evaluated using simplified target and clutter models. Detection is based on a model where targets contain a concentration of phase-stable scatterers, and clutter is made up of phase-unstable scatterers. The proposed algorithm involves the transmission of three equally spaced frequencies. Each pixel is characterized by its observed stability, a linear combination of the phase shifts at each of the three frequencies, whose weights are +1, -2, +1, respectively. A mask is a collection of pixels chosen to match the possible geometry of a target. The observed stability of a mask is the weighted average of the squares of the observed stability of the pixels it contains.<>