Moving target indication

About: Moving target indication is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2653 publications have been published within this topic receiving 32435 citations.

Long-CPI Multichannel SAR-Based Ground Moving Target Indication

Abstract: The detection of ground moving targets with arbitrary linear motion from an airborne multichannel radar via a long coherent processing interval is considered. The technique maximizes the target signal energy in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images by matching to the target's linear motion profile. A reparameterization of the target's linear motion is developed that decouples the array processing from the image formation process. An explicit approach to forming SAR images focused with respect to a particular along-track velocity is presented. The ground clutter is canceled via an adaptive array technique, which also yields an estimate of the target radial velocity. Because the algorithm generates estimates of the target's along-track and cross-track velocity components, a unique determination of the target's motion parameters is possible. The approach is derived and investigated via simulated point spread functions. Algorithm performance is demonstrated on the GOTCHA SAR ground moving target indication data set.

Evaluation of state-of-the-art GMTI techniques for future spaceborne SAR systems -Simulation validation

Abstract: This paper presents an evaluation of the state-of-the-art Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) techniques in the frame of space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for vessel detection by means of a flexible SAR-GMTI simulator tool Among the different GMTI techniques, Displaced Phase Center Antenna (DPCA), Along-Track Interferometry (ATI) and Imaging Space-Time Adaptive Processing (ISTAP) have been evaluated

A Method for Optimal GMTI Focussing and Enhanced Visual Evaluation

Abstract: Ground moving target indication (GMTI) from spaceborne SAR data has been successfully demonstrated by the authors with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission: signatures could be assigned to larger vehicles on highways and their velocity could be estimated In consequence of these results, a number of systematic experiments were conducted with DLR’s airborne SAR ESAR in preparation for the German satellite TerraSARX to be launched in 2006 Future SAR satellites like the TerraSAR-X and the Canadian Radarsat-2 will offer advanced imaging modes optimized for GMTI, eg using split antennas and dual or triple receive channels Currently, an operational GMTI processing system is being developed at DLR in order to generate traffic information for civilian use from TerraSAR-X data This paper proposes solutions for two problems occurring in such a processing and evaluation chain: Firstly, optimal SAR focussing of moving targets is not straightforward since the target motion changes the synthetic aperture parameters which have to be precisely adapted in the SAR processor If not adapted, the target appears unfocussed and ambiguous Secondly, moving objects appear displaced from the stationary clutter in the image making the evaluation by a human interpreter difficult Both problems are solved simultaneously by a rigorous modelling of the imaging process and by incorporating apriory knowledge in the processing and evaluation chain The results will be optimally focussed GMTI images that can be easily evaluated by a human operator

Detecting moving targets in SAR imagery by using a phase-error correction algorithm

Abstract: Motion of a target induces phase errors in a synthetic-aperture (SAR) signal (phase) history that cause the image of the moving target to be smeared in azimuth. We can detect the presence of a moving target by sensing the smearing, as follows. We divide the complex image of a scene that includes a moving target into a grid of patches, and apply a phase-error correction algorithm to each patch. We have used the shear averaging phase-error correction algorithm. Patches that have large phase errors are likely to contain the image of a moving target. We also compute the sharpness of the image in the patch before and after phase-error correction; an increase in sharpness indicates the presence of a moving target, and it is a better indicator than the magnitude of the phase error. This approach requires just a single-antenna conventional SAR system. It is highly sensitive to the azimuth component of target velocity and to radial acceleration.

Application of Detection and Recognition Algorithms to Persistent Wide Area Surveillance

Abstract: The persistent airborne surveillance of large geographical areas is now a viable proposition. As well as providing cues to moving objects, it presents new opportunities for understanding the behaviours and motivations of people, both individually and collectively. Exploitation of these huge collections of imagery (a facet of the Big Data challenge) requires more effective tools to derive and abstract useful information to cue the analyst. This paper describes a new system which brings together a number of techniques: moving target detection; tracking; recognition and photogrammetry, to address wide area surveillance problems. We provide a first report on the demands this places on component parts and interfaces. Significantly, we adopt international interoperability standards, particularly with regard to video metadata, to constrain the solution space. We also describe new performance improvements to the video moving target indication and photogrammetry algorithms as well as analysing for the first time the performance of our integrated target model matching capability in our automated system.