Azimuth ambiguities removal for ship detection using full polarimetric X-band SAR data
Velotto D, Soccorsi M, Lehner S (2014)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2014
Journal
Book Volume: 52
Pages Range: 76-88
Article Number: 6428670
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2012.2236337
Abstract
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ship detection is an important application in the field of maritime security. Azimuth ambiguities caused by the aliasing of the Doppler phase history of each point are often visible in SAR images particularly in ocean areas of low wind speed condition, e.g., in coastal areas, in harbors, etc. The main sources of azimuth ambiguities are man-made metallic structures over the ocean, e.g., ships, oil platforms etc., and over land near the coast, e.g., big tanks, bridges' pylons etc., that have a high SAR backscatter responses. Although the ambiguities' backscatter is generally low, in many situations, it is above the surrounding ocean clutter and are mistaken by classic detection techniques, like constant false alarm rate, as real targets causing false positives. This paper addresses both the discrimination of real targets from non-trivial false positives, namely those due to azimuth ambiguities and the detection itself using a Generalized-K distribution approach. The methodology is firstly proposed and demonstrated over a significant data set of full polarimetric X-band SAR data, which have been acquired by the German satellite TerraSAR-X during the experimental dual receive antenna campaign in April and May 2010. It is based on the intrinsic configuration of monostatic two-channel PolSAR systems and relies on the different signature of azimuth ambiguities in cross-polarized channels. Automatic Identification System messages collected and collocated with the data set analyzed are used as ground truth to evaluate and validate the proposed methodology. © 1980-2012 IEEE.
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Velotto, D., Soccorsi, M., & Lehner, S. (2014). Azimuth ambiguities removal for ship detection using full polarimetric X-band SAR data. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 52(1), 76-88. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2012.2236337
MLA:
Velotto, Domenico, Matteo Soccorsi, and Susanne Lehner. "Azimuth ambiguities removal for ship detection using full polarimetric X-band SAR data." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 52.1 (2014): 76-88.
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