System for detecting man-made objects using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar imagery with error reduction and method of use
First Claim
1. A system for determining the location of a man-made object based upon symmetry of the object comprising:
- a receiver configured to receive radar signals comprising cross-polarized and co-polarized responses, the co-polarized responses measured either by transmitting and receiving both horizontally polarized waves (horizontal-horizontal) or by transmitting and receiving both vertically polarized waves (vertical-vertical);
the cross-polarized responses measured by either transmitting horizontally polarized waves and receiving vertically polarized waves (horizontal-vertical) or by transmitting vertically polarized waves and receiving horizontally polarized waves (vertical-horizontal);
at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to process horizontal-horizontal co-polarimetric (co-pol) data, vertical-vertical co-polarimetric data, and one or both of the vertical-horizontal cross-polarimetric data and horizontal-vertical polarimetric data to form co-polarized images and cross-polarized images;
the at least one processor configured to process the co-polarized and cross-polarized images to locate areas of interest containing a maximum in the co-pol image and a null state in the cross-pol image indicating the potential detection of a man-made object;
the at least one processor being configured to filter data using buffer regions in the vicinity of an area of interest to reduce error.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for determining the location of a man-made object based upon symmetry of the object comprising a receiver configured to receive radar signals comprising cross-polarized and co-polarized responses; at least one processor configured to combine the horizontal-horizontal polarimetric responses and vertical-vertical polarimetric responses to form co-polarimetric images and operate on one or both of the vertical-horizontal polarimetric responses and horizontal-vertical polarimetric responses to form cross-polarized images; the at least one processor configured to process the co-polarized and cross-polarized images to locate areas of interest containing a maximum in the co-pol image and a null state in the co-pol image indicating the potential detection of a man-made object; the at least one processor being configured to filter data using buffer regions and/or skipping of pixels in the vicinity of an area of interest. A method for detection of man-made objects is also disclosed.
12 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for determining the location of a man-made object based upon symmetry of the object comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive radar signals comprising cross-polarized and co-polarized responses, the co-polarized responses measured either by transmitting and receiving both horizontally polarized waves (horizontal-horizontal) or by transmitting and receiving both vertically polarized waves (vertical-vertical);
the cross-polarized responses measured by either transmitting horizontally polarized waves and receiving vertically polarized waves (horizontal-vertical) or by transmitting vertically polarized waves and receiving horizontally polarized waves (vertical-horizontal);at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to process horizontal-horizontal co-polarimetric (co-pol) data, vertical-vertical co-polarimetric data, and one or both of the vertical-horizontal cross-polarimetric data and horizontal-vertical polarimetric data to form co-polarized images and cross-polarized images; the at least one processor configured to process the co-polarized and cross-polarized images to locate areas of interest containing a maximum in the co-pol image and a null state in the cross-pol image indicating the potential detection of a man-made object;
the at least one processor being configured to filter data using buffer regions in the vicinity of an area of interest to reduce error. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for determining the location of a man-made object comprising the following steps, not necessarily in order;
inputting image data comprising four co-registered polarimetric SAR images of a common scene;
the four co-registered polarimetric images comprising horizontal-horizontal, horizontal-vertical, vertical-vertical and vertical-horizontal polarimetric images, the inputted image data comprising pixel values representing the polarimetric SAR images, a location in each of the four co-registered SAR images having a corresponding location in the other three co-registered SAR images;
each of the four co-registered SAR images being inputted into at least one processor;
the at least one processor being configured to calculate a statistic indicating the likelihood that a manmade object is present by selecting a plurality of pixels under test and using at least one processor;determining the intensity of the background for the pixels under test by skipping a predetermined number of cross-range cells on either side of a pixel under test in the cross-pol image to calculate a background average for pixels on either side of the pixel under test; spatial averaging at a plurality of pixel locations in the vicinity of the pixel under test to determine the background average intensity for the pixel under test; comparing the intensity of the pixel under test with the background intensity to determine potential man-made objects. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 20)
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15. A system for determining the location of a man-made object based upon symmetry of the object comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive radar signals comprising cross-polarized and co-polarized responses and cross pol polarimetric images; at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to combine the horizontal-horizontal polarimetric images and vertical-vertical polarimetric images to form co-polarimetric images and operate on one or both of the vertical-horizontal polarimetric images and horizontal-vertical polarimetric images to form cross-polarized images; the at least one processor configured to process the co-polarized and cross-polarized images to locate pixels of interest containing a maximum intensity in the co-pol image and a null state in the cross-pol image indicating the potential detection of a man-made object;
the maximum intensity and null state being determined by comparing the pixels of interest with pixels in the vicinity of the pixels of interest to obtain relative intensity values;
the at least one processor refining the evaluation of pixels in the vicinity of pixels of interest by using spatial averaging at a plurality of pixel locations in the vicinity of the pixels of interest andthe at least one processor configured to skip a predetermined number pixels on either side of the pixel or pixels of interest before calculating the background average in order to diminish the effects of noise. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification