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Synthetic Aperture Radar Principles and Applications of AI in Automatic Target Recognition

This document discusses using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for automatic target recognition of moving targets. It addresses challenges like blind angle ambiguity where a single SAR sensor cannot determine a moving target's position and velocity. The document outlines how including information about the antenna radiation pattern can solve this. It presents methods for moving target detection, trajectory estimation, and focusing using a single SAR sensor. It also discusses using artificial intelligence tools like neural networks for automatic target recognition on SAR images after prescreening areas likely containing targets.

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79 views

Synthetic Aperture Radar Principles and Applications of AI in Automatic Target Recognition

This document discusses using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for automatic target recognition of moving targets. It addresses challenges like blind angle ambiguity where a single SAR sensor cannot determine a moving target's position and velocity. The document outlines how including information about the antenna radiation pattern can solve this. It presents methods for moving target detection, trajectory estimation, and focusing using a single SAR sensor. It also discusses using artificial intelligence tools like neural networks for automatic target recognition on SAR images after prescreening areas likely containing targets.

Uploaded by

oveiskntu
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Synthetic Aperture Radar: Principles and Applications

of AI in Automatic Target Recognition

Paulo Marques
1Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa / Instituto de Telecomunicações
R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1
1949-007 Lisboa
[email protected]

Abstract. This paper addresses the problem of detection, imaging and


automatic target recognition of moving targets using synthetic aperture radar.
The challenge in processing moving targets is addressed with special emphasis
on the blind angle ambiguity and on the maximum unambiguous moving target
velocity. It is shown that both ambiguities can be solved by including
information about the antenna radiation pattern. This information is crucial to
obtain focused images of moving targets in order to perform automatic target
recognition. Some methodologies using artificial intelligence tools to perform
automatic target recognition are presented.

1 Introduction
Ground surveillance radar is a useful tool for remote sensing. Airborne and
spaceborne radar sensors are able to quickly cover large areas of the ground and to
produce high quality radar maps, in all weather, day and night [1]. Synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) was introduced in the 1950s as a mean to obtain high resolution radar
images.

The so-called stripmap SAR acquisition geometry, illustrated in Fig. 1, is widely


used. This acquisition geometry provides data along a terrain strip parallel to the
flight direction (azimuth direction). The radar travels at constant velocity in the
azimuth direction and transmits wideband microwave pulses at regular intervals. The
corresponding echoes are recorded. Many pulses are transmitted during the so called
integration time, i.e., the time the platform takes to travel the footprint cross-range
length.

High resolution in range is obtained using traditional pulse compression techniques


and is independent of the antenna size. High resolution in the azimuth direction is
obtained via synthesizing a long array, by taking advantage of the platform
movement.
y=Vt
y
RADAR
u-5 u-4 u-3 u-2 u2 u3 u4 u5

r(u)
rm
vm
vr

(x m,y m) va

Fig. 1. Stripmap SAR geometry

If a moving target signature is processed as if originated by a static target, the


resulting SAR image shows it defocused and/or at wrong positions, depending of the
motion direction. This problem is illustrated in Fig. 2. The figure shows the result of
focusing, with static ground parameters, a target area where a moving vehicle (a BTR-
60) is present. As expected, only the ground becomes focused. The moving vehicle
appears misplaced, blurred and defocused.

If correctly processed it should appear focused on the road at coordinates


(x,y)=(90,124) m. To obtain focused and correctly positioned images of moving
objects it is necessary to know the moving target velocity vector. Fig. 3 shows the
moving vehicle focused and repositioned after estimation of its trajectory parameters.

Notice that due to fact that a single SAR sensor is used and because, in this
particular situation, the moving target spectra (although 6 times folded) is completely
superpositioned on that from the clutter, the defocused image of the BTR-60 cannot
be removed from the image. This is one of the limitations of the single SAR sensor
based techniques that are addressed in the presentation.
Fig.2. Image focused using static ground parameters.

The SAR community is presently researching, among others, the detection,


imaging, and recognition of moving targets, for surveillance purposes. Many
applications aim at determining the position and the velocity of certain targets. The
purpose may be, for example to detect ships in the sea [2, 3] or to find traffic jams [4].
Other civil applications include oil pollution monitoring and surface currents
measurement. Some military applications are also oriented towards detecting and
recognizing moving targets [5]. The purpose may be to intercept targets threatening
facilities or resources. In other scenarios the purpose may be to keep the moving
objects safely apart from each other as they navigate, thus requiring accurate
detection, high resolution imaging, and precise kinematics estimation.

The classical solution to the problem of simultaneously imaging, repositioning and


full trajectory estimation of moving targets requires, usually, two or more sensors.
The reduction of the number of sensors is a crucial issue in spaceborne missions,
since it reduces the payload, and, therefore, the mission costs. The presentation will
also address, although briefly, the design of processing schemes aiming at imaging,
repositioning, and full trajectory estimation of moving targets in SAR, using a single
sensor and a posteriori recognition using artificial intelligence (AI) based methods.
Fig.3. SAR image with moving target focused and repositioned.

2 Presentation outline

2.1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Principles

The presentation starts with an introduction to the stripmap SAR acquisition


geometry and presents an imaging scheme belonging to a class of algorithms often
referred to as wavenumber domain (ω-k) processors (or as wavefront reconstruction
algorithm in Soumekh's terminology [1]) to produce focused images using the
recorded echoes from a given illuminated target area. Other popular SAR imaging
algorithms are also mentioned. The limitations in processing moving targets using a
single SAR sensor are then addressed and the ill-posedness nature of the problem
(termed blind angle ambiguity or azimuth position uncertainty problem}) is brought
to focus. The state-of-the-art in moving target detection, trajectory estimation, and
imaging is then surveyed. The described methodologies are classified into two
classes: The single SAR based sensor, and the array SAR based sensor. Advantages
and disadvantages of each one are referred to.
The blind angle ambiguity problem is then addressed. This ambiguity refers to the
fact that the position and velocity of a moving target cannot be inferred from its phase
history using data from a single sensor. It is shown that the blind angle ambiguity can
be solved by including information about the antenna radiation pattern. Shape
analysis of the antenna radiation pattern is conducted and the findings illustrated
experimentally.

2.2 Moving Target Detection, Trajectory Estimation and Focusing

A recently published procedure to image and to estimate the velocity vector and
the coordinates of multiple moving targets, using data from a single SAR sensor is
then presented [2]. It exploits the structure of the amplitude and of the phase
modulations of the returned echo from a moving target. The technique is developed in
the spatial domain and extracts the data along a curve determined by the moving
target trajectory parameters. Experimental results will be provided.

2.1 Automatic Target Recognition

The last topic of the presentation addresses the problem of automatic target
recognition (ATR). This step of the processing aims at the classification of specific
targets in natural environments.
Typically the systems that perform ATR are divided into two blocks. One that
brings into focus a region of interest; followed by one that acts as a classifier [6]. The
brute-force approach needed to classify each pixel is prohibitive from the
computational point of view. Instead, the first block selects the areas that have high
probability of containing targets and is designated by prescreener. Therefore, only a
small part of the overall data is used for ATR.
The most popular prescreener types used in SAR are based in the constant false
alarm (CFAR) detectors. This consists, typically, in performing a test based on the
pixel intensity versus the local neighborhood. Although this method is the simplest, it
does not provide the best results. A modified technique, which uses multilayer
perceptron network, is then presented.
Many artificial intelligence techniques have been tried for classification such as
those based on genetic programming and neural networks. However, due to the noisy
characteristics of the radar images, see Fig. 4, the most successful classifiers are based
on Neural Networks.
The presentation is concluded by providing current trends and suggestions of
future research directions in moving target imaging, trajectory estimation and ATR
using SAR data.
Fig. 4. Optical image of a BTR-60 (left) and the corresponding image in X-Band
(right).

3 Acknowledgements
This wok was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
under Project PTDC/EEA-TEL/71996/2006.
The author also expresses his gratitude to the US Air Force Research Laboratory for
providing the MSTAR data.

References

1. Soumekh, M., Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal Processing with MATLAB


algorithms.New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1999.
2. .Marques, P; Dias, J.; “Moving Target Trajectory Estimation in SAR Spatial Domain
Using a Single Sensor”, IEEE Trans. On Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 43, No.
3, pp. 864-874, July 2007.
3. .R. Romeiser O. Hirsch, “Accurate measurement of ocean surface currents by airborne
along-track interferometric SAR,” in Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on
Synthetic Aperture Radar, May 2000, pp. 127-130.
4. Marques, P, “Directional Moving Target Indication for Civil Traffic Monitoring Using
Single Channel SAR”, Proceedings of IEEE RADARCON, Pasadena, United States, May,
2009.
5. .Hinz, S; Weihing, D; Suchandt, S, et al., “Detection and Velocity Estimation of Moving
Vehicles in High-Resolution Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Data”, Proceedings of
IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Anchorage AK, Jun,
2008.
6. Principe, J; Kim, M; Fished, J, “Target Discrimination in Synthetic Aperture
Radar Using Artificial Neural Networks, IEEE Trans. On Image Processing, Vol.
7, No. 8, pp. 1136-1149, August 1998.

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