Optimal polarimetric processing for enhanced target detection

The results of a study of several polarimetric target detection algorithms are summarized. The algorithms were tested using real target-in-clutter data collected by the Lincoln Laboratory 35 GHz synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor. Fully polarimetric measurements (HH, HV, VV) are processed into intensity imagery using adaptive and nonadaptive polarimetric whitening filters (PWFs). Then a two-parameter constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detector is run over the imagery to detect the targets. Nonadaptive PWF processed imagery is shown to provide better protection performance than either adaptive PWF processed imagery or single-polarimetric-channel HH imagery. In addition, nonadaptive PWF processed imagery is shown to be visually clearer than adaptive processed imagery