Physics-based detection of targets in SAR imagery using support vector machines

B. Krishnapuram, J. Sichina, L. Carin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Radar scattering from an illuminated object is often highly dependent on the target-sensor orientation. In conjunction with physics based feature extraction, the exploitation of aspect-dependent information has led to successful improvements in the detection of tactical targets in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. While prior work has attempted to design detectors by matching them to images from a training set, the generalization capability of these detectors beyond the training database can be significantly improved by using the principle of structural risk minimization. In this paper, we propose a detector based on support vector machines that explicitly incorporates this principle in its design, yielding improved detection performance. We also introduce a probabilistic feature-parsing scheme that improves the robustness of detection using features obtained from a two-dimensional matching-pursuits feature extractor. Performance is assessed by considering the detection of tactical targets concealed in foliage, using measured foliage-penetrating SAR data.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1202937
Pages (from-to)147-157
Number of pages11
JournalIEEE Sensors Journal
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2003
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Support vector machines
  • Radar detection
  • Detectors
  • Feature extraction
  • Radar scattering
  • Physics
  • Synthetic aperture radar
  • Image databases
  • Spatial databases
  • Risk management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Physics-based detection of targets in SAR imagery using support vector machines'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this