Moving target detection in SAR imagery: experimental results

Abstract

The detection of moving targets in SAR imagery has long been recognised as being of considerable utility adding much to the value of the derived information. A major obstacle to the detection of moving targets, however, is the broadening of the clutter spectrum as a result of air or spacecraft motion. This restricts the region of clutter free spectral space in which moving targets may be detected and in some cases (for example space based radar) this region becomes negligible. One potential solution is to use more than one spatial channel of information and examples include the use of displaced phase centre antennas (DPCA) and space-time adaptive processing (STAP). We present an overview of the background theory to dual channel DPCA and demonstrate the potential for clutter cancellation under ideal conditions. We then present results from an experimental dual channel C-band SAR. This allows the detected moving target to be overlaid on the background SAR image and the actual clutter improvement obtained can be compared with that predicted.