Modulated-ISRJ rejection using online dictionary learning for synthetic aperture radar imagery

In electromagnetic countermeasures circumstances,synthetic aperture radar(SAR)imagery usually suffers from severe quality degradation from modulated interrupt sampling repeater jamming(MISRJ),which usually owes considerable coherence with the SAR transmission waveform together with periodical modulation patterns.This paper develops an MISRJ suppression algorithm for SAR imagery with online dictionary learning.In the algorithm,the jamming modulation temporal properties are exploited with extracting and sorting MISRJ slices using fast-time autocorrelation.Online dictionary learning is followed to separate real signals from jamming slices.Under the learned representation,time-varying MISRJs are suppressed effectively.Both simulated and real-measured SAR data are also used to confirm advantages in suppressing time-varying MISRJs over traditional methods.

Rapid detection to long ship wake in synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery

The maritime administrative department employs synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite remote sensing technology to obtain evidence of illegal discharge of ships. If the ship is discharged during navigation, it forms a long dark wake on the SAR image due to the suppression of the Bragg wave by the oil fi lm. This study investigates key techniques for rapid detection of long ship wakes, thereby providing law enforcement agencies with candidate ships for possible discharge. This paper presents a rapid long ship wake detection method that uses satellite imaging parameters and the axial direction of the ship in images to determine the potential detection area of the wake. Then, the threshold of long ship wake detection is determined using statistical analysis, the area is binarized, and isolated points are removed using a morphological filter operator. The method was tested with ENVISAT Synthetic Aperture Radar and GF-3 SAR data, and results showed that the method was eff ective, and the overall accuracy of the decision reaches 71%. We present two innovations;one is a method that draws a Doppler shift curve, and uses the SAR imaging parameters to determine the detection area of the long wake to achieve rapid detection and reduce the image detection area. The other is where a classical linear fitting method is used to quickly and accurately determine whether the detected dark area is a long ship wake and realizes the twisted long ship wake detection caused by the sea surface flow field, which is otherwise diffi cult to detect by the traditional Radon and Hough transform methods. This method has good suppression performance for the dark spot false alarm formed by low speed wind region or upward flow. The method is developed for maritime ship monitoring system and will promote the operational application of maritime ship monitoring system.

Simulation of Raw Signal for Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR)

The study on simulation of raw signal for spaceborne SAR aims at producing raw signal to test and evaluate the system and imaging algorithm. The model used for simulation includes a distributed target model, a platform and target geometry model, and a mathematical architecture used for generation of raw echo. Two aspects are stressed, one is the effects of earth ellip soid and attitude errors on radar impulse respense, the other is quick generation of range migration in azimuth frequency domain. Prescribed statistical characteristics of the model account for a realistic speckle of actual image. Finally, examples are given to validate the simulation of raw signal for spaceborne SAR.

An Information Theory Approach to the Data Compression and Imaging System for Synthetic Aperture Radar （SAR）

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is portrayed as a multiple access channel. An information theory approach is applied to the SAR imaging system, and the information content about a target that can be extracted from its radar image is evaluated by the average mutual information measure. A conditional (transition) probability density function (PDF) of the SAR imaging system is derived by analyzing the system and a closed form of the information content is found. It is shown that the information content obtained by the SAR imaging system from an independent sample of echoes will decrease and the total information content obtained by the SAR imaging system will increase with an increase in the number of looks. Because the total average mutual information is also used to define a measure of radiometric resolution for radar images, it is shown that the radiometric resolution of a radar image of terrain will be improved by spatial averaging. In addition, the imaging process and the data compression process for SAR are each treated as an independent generalized communication channel. The effects of data compression upon radiometric resolution for SAR are studied and some conclusions are obtained.

Carbon stock estimation by dual-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and forest inventory data in a Mediterranean forest landscape

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in mitigating global climate change by forming massive carbon sinks. Their carbon stocks and stock changes need to be quantified for carbon budget balancing and international reporting schemes. However, direct sampling and biomass weighing may not always be possible for quantification studies conducted in large forests. In these cases, indirect methods that use forest inventory information combined with remote sensing data can be beneficial. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images offer numerous opportunities to researchers as freely distributed remote sensing data. This study aims to estimate the amount of total carbon stock (TCS) in forested lands of the Kizildag Forest Enterprise. To this end, the actual storage capacities of five carbon pools, i.e. above- and below-ground, deadwood, litter, and soil, were calculated using the indirect method based on ground measurements of 264 forest inventory plots. They were then associated with the backscattered values from Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data in a Geographical Information System (GIS). Finally, TCS was separately modelled and mapped. The best regression model was developed using the HH polarization of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 with an adjusted R^(2) of 0.78 (p < 0.05). According to the model, the estimated TCS was about 2 Mt for the entire forest, with an average carbon storage of 133 t ha^(−1). The map showed that the distribution of TCS was heterogenic across the study area. Carbon hotspots were mostly composed of pure stands of Anatolian black pine and mixed, over-mature stands of Lebanese cedar and Taurus fir. It was concluded that the total carbon stocks of forest ecosystems could be estimated using appropriate SAR images at acceptable accuracy levels for forestry purposes. The use of additional ancillary data may provide more delicate and reliable estimations in the future. Given the implications of this study, the spatiotemporal dynamics of carbon can be effectively controlled by forest management when coupled with easily accessible space-borne radar data.

Design of synthetic aperture radar low-intercept radio frequency stealth

Not confined to a certain point,such as waveform,this paper systematically studies the low-intercept radio frequency(RF)stealth design of synthetic aperture radar(SAR)from the system level.The study is carried out from two levels.In the first level,the maximum low-intercept range equation of the conventional SAR system is deduced firstly,and then the maximum low-intercept range equation of the multiple-input multiple-output SAR system is deduced.In the second level,the waveform design and imaging method of the low-intercept RF SAR system are given and verified by simulation.Finally,the main technical characteristics of the lowintercept RF stealth SAR system are given to guide the design of low-intercept RF stealth SAR system.

Monitoring cyanobacteria-dominant algal blooms in eutrophicated Taihu Lake in China with synthetic aperture radar images

Monitoring algal blooms by optical remote sensing is limited by cloud cover.In this study,synthetic aperture radar(SAR) was deployed with the aim of monitoring cyanobacteria-dominant algal blooms in Taihu Lake in cloudy weather.The study shows that dark regions in the SAR images caused by cyanobacterial blooms damped the microwave backscatter of the lake surface and were consistent with the regions of algal blooms in quasi-synchronous optical images,confirming the applicability of SAR for detection of surface blooms.Low backscatter may also be associated with other factors such as low wind speeds,resulting in interference when monitoring algal blooms using SAR data alone.After feature extraction and selection,the dark regions were classified by the support vector machine method with an overall accuracy of 67.74%.SAR can provide a reference point for monitoring cyanobacterial blooms in the lake,particularly when weather is not suitable for optical remote sensing.Multi-polarization and multi-band SAR can be considered for use in the future to obtain more accurate information regarding algal blooms from SAR data.

A Review on Applications of Imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar with a Special Focus on Cryospheric Studies

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth’s system. Snow and ice are the main constituents of the cryosphere and may be found in different states, such as snow, freshwater ice, sea ice, perma-frost, and continental ice masses in the form of glaciers and ice sheets. The present review mainly deals with state-of-the-art applications of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with a special emphasize on cryospheric information extraction. SAR is the most important active microwave remote sensing (RS) instrument for ice monitoring, which provides high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface. SAR is an ideal sensor in RS technology, which works in all-weather and day and night conditions to provide useful unprecedented information, especially in the cryospheric regions which are almost inaccessible areas on Earth. This paper addresses the technological evolution of SAR and its applications in studying the various components of the cryosphere. The arrival of SAR radically changed the capabilities of information extraction related to ice type, new ice formation, and ice thickness. SAR applications can be divided into two broad classes-polarimetric applications and interferometric applications. Polarimetric SAR has been effectively used for mapping calving fronts, crevasses, surface structures, sea ice, detection of icebergs, etc. The paper also summarizes both the operational and climate change research by using SAR for sea ice parameter detection. Digital elevation model (DEM) generation and glacier velocity mapping are the two most important applications used in cryosphere using SAR interferometry or interferometric SAR (InSAR). Space-borne InSAR techniques for measuring ice flow velocity and topography have developed rapidly over the last decade. InSAR is capable of measuring ice motion that has radically changed the science of glaciers and ice sheets. Measurement of temperate glacier velocities and surface characteristics by using airborne and space-borne interferometric satellite images have been the significant application in glaciology and cryospheric studies. Space-borne InSAR has contributed to major evolution in many research areas of glaciological study by measuring ice-stream flow velocity, improving understanding of ice-shelf processes, yielding velocity for flux-gate based mass-balance assessment, and mapping flow of mountain glaciers. The present review summarizes the salient development of SAR applications in cryosphere and glaciology.

A NOVEL SVM FOR GROUND PENETRATING SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR LANDMINE DETECTION

The use of vehicle- or air-borne Ground Penetrating Synthetic Aperture Radar (GPSAR) to quickly detect landmines over large areas is becoming a trend. However, producing too many false alarms in GPSAR landmine detection is a major challenge in practical applications of GPSAR. Support Vector Machine (SVM), employing structural risk minimization theory, does not need large amounts of training data, which makes it suitable for solving the landmine detection problem. In this paper, a novel SVM with a hypersphere instead of a hyperplane classification boundary is proposed for landmine detection in GPSAR. The HyperSphere-SVM (HS-SVM) can be trained with both landmine and clutter data, or with landmine data only, which are called the two-class HS-SVM and the one-class HS-SVM, respectively. The HS-SVM has better generalization capability than the traditional HyperPlane-SVM (HP-SVM) with respect to varying operating conditions. Quantitative comparisons have been made using real data collected with the rail-GPSAR landmine detection system, which show that both the two-class and the one-class HS-SVMs have better detection performance than the HP-SVM.

A New Factorized Backprojection Algorithm for Stripmap Synthetic Aperture Radar

Factorized backprojection is a processing algorithm for reconstructing images from data collected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Factorized backprojection requires less computation than conventional time-domain backprojection with minimal loss in accuracy for straight-line motion. However, its implementation is not as straightforward as direct backprojection. This paper provides a new, easily parallelizable formulation of factorized backprojection designed for stripmap SAR data that includes a method of implementing an azimuth window as part of the factorized backprojection algorithm. We compare the performance of windowed factorized backprojection to direct backprojection for simulated and actual SAR data.

Hybrid micromotion-scattering center model for synthetic aperture radar micromotion target imaging

Micromotion is an important target feature, although the target micromotion has an unfavorable influence on the synthetic aperture radar （SAR） image interpretation due to defocusing. This paper introduces micromotion parameters into the scattering center model to obtain a hybrid micromotion-scattering center model, and then proposes an optimization algorithm based on the maximal likelihood estimation to solve the model for jointly obtaining target motion and scattering parameters. Initial value estimation methods using targets＇ ghost images are then presented to guarantee the global and fast convergence. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm especially in high precision estimation and multiple targets processing.

CROSS-RANGE RESOLUTION OF SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR BASED ON DIVING MODEL

This paper concentrates on the cross-range resolution of Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) based on diving model.In comparison to the azimuth resolution,the cross-range resolution can manifest the two-dimensional resolution ability of the imaging sensor SAR correctly.The diving model of SAR is an extended model from the conventional stripmap model,and the cross-range resolution expression is deduced from the equivalent linear frequency modulation pulses' compression.This expression points out that only the cross-range velocity component of the horizontal velocity contributes to the cross-range resolution.Also the cross-range resolution expressions and the performance of the conventional stripmap operation,squint side-look operation and beam circular-scanning operation are discussed.The cross-range resolution expression based on diving model will provide more general and more accurate reference.

Simulation and Analysis of the Impacts of Anisotropic Ionospheric Scintallition on Geosynchronous Synthetic Aperture Radar

The impacts of ionospheric scintillation on geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar（GEO SAR）focusing is studied based on the multiple phase screen（MPS）theory.The power spectrum density of electron irregularities is first modified according to the ionospheric anisotropy.Then propagation wave equations in random medium are deduced in the case of oblique incidence in GEO SAR.The amplitude and phase errors induced by the random electron fluctuations are generated by the iterated MPS simulations and are superimposed into the GEO SAR signals.Through the following imaging and evaluation,the effects of the anisotropic ionospheric scintallition on GEO SAR are assessed.At last,the optimized integration time under different ionospheric scintillation conditions are recommended through Monte Carlo experiments.It is concluded that,greater ionospheric fluctuations and longer integration time will result in more severe deterioration,even no focus at all in the worst case.

High resolution wide swath revisit synthetic aperture radar imaging mode and algorithm

Based on the squint mode, a high resolution wide swath revisit synthetic aperture radar （SAR） imaging mode is pro- posed. The transmitting antennas are configured as the single phase center multiple azimuth beams （SPC MAB）. The formed two beams point to two different directions to obtain two images of the observed scenario. The receiving antennas are configured as displaced phase center multiple azimuth beams （DPC MAB） to decrease the required pulse repetition frequency （PRF）. The de- creased PRF can ensure the high resolution wide swath imaging. Based on the analysis of the character of the return signal, a pro- cessing method named multiple beam multiple channel algorithm （MBMCA） is proposed to separate the aliased sub-beams＇ echoes. The separated echoes are focused respectively to get the revisit imaging to the observed scenario. The simulation experiments ve- rify the validity and correctness of the proposed imaging mode and processing algorithm.

Spatial Channel Sounding Based on Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar Principles

In this paper, we propose a simplified spatial channel sounding method by utilizing bistatic synthetic aperture radar(BiSAR) principles. Despite the different deployment geometries compared with a conventional BiSAR system, the feasibility of the approach is established by 1) the proposed method achieves a better spatial resolution than conventional directional channel sounders and 2) reconstruction algorithms based on time-domain backprojection in conjunction with a digital elevation model provide a good imaging performance and are suitable for reconstructing the spatial distribution of scatterers. Simulations of a high-speed rail(HSR) scenario demonstrate that the estimated power delay profiles(PDPs) and power angle profiles(PAPs) are close to the actual values.

WATERMARKING WITH REFINED PERCEPTUAL MASKING TUNED FOR SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR IMAGES

A watermarking scheme designed for remote sensing images needs to meet the same demand of both invisibility as for ordinary digital images. Due to specific perceptual characteristics of Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) images, the watermarking algorithms with consideration of Human Vision System(HVS) modeling from optical images give poor performance when applied on SAR images. This paper examines a variety of factors affecting the noise sensitivity, and further proposes a refined pixel-wise masking approach for watermarking on SAR images. The proposed approach is applied on logarithmic transformed SAR images, and has increased the acceptable watermark embedding strength by about 6 dB to 10 dB while achieving the same levels of watermarked image visual quality. Experimental results show that this approach enhanced the perceptual invisibility of watermarking based on wavelet decomposition.

IMAGING ANALYSIS OF FREQUENCY MODULATION CONTINUOUS WAVE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR IN NEAR RANGE MODE

Frequency-Modulation Continuous-Wave Synthetic Aperture Radar(FMCW SAR)has shown great potential in the applications of civil and military fields because of its easy deployment and low cost.However,most of these work and analysis are concentrated on airborne FMCW SAR,where the characteristics of the imaging geometry and signal are much similar to that of traditional pulsed-SAR.As a result,a series of test campaigns of automobile-based FMCW SAR were sponsored by Institute of Electronics,Chinese Academy of Sciences(IECAS)in the autumn of 2012.In this paper,we analyze the imaging issues of FMCW SAR in automobile mode(named as near range mode),where a vehicle is used as moving platform and a large looking angle is configured.The imaging geometry and signal properties are analyzed in detail.We emphasize the difference of the near range mode from the traditional airborne SAR mode.Based on the analysis,a focusing approach is proposed in the paper to handle the data focusing in the case.Simulation experiment and real data of automobile FMCW SAR are used to validate the analysis.

A Mo LC+Mo M-based G^0 distribution parameter estimation method with application to synthetic aperture radar target detection

The accuracy of background clutter model is a key factor which determines the performance of a constant false alarm rate(CFAR) target detection method. G0 distribution is one of the optimal statistic models in the synthetic aperture radar(SAR) image background clutter modeling and can accurately model various complex background clutters in the SAR images. But the application of the distribution is greatly limited by its disadvantages that the parameter estimation is complex and the local detection threshold is difficult to be obtained. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an synthetic aperture radar CFAR target detection method using the logarithmic cumulant(Mo LC) + method of moment(Mo M)-based G0 distribution clutter model is proposed. In the method, G0 distribution is used for modeling the background clutters, a new Mo LC+Mo M-based parameter estimation method coupled with a fast iterative algorithm is used for estimating the parameters of G0 distribution and an exquisite dichotomy method is used for obtaining the local detection threshold of CFAR detection, which greatly improves the computational efficiency, detection performance and environmental adaptability of CFAR detection. Experimental results show that the proposed SAR CFAR target detection method has good target detection performance in various complex background clutter environments.

Wave Azimuth Cutoff Compensation Method and the Multisatellite Networking Mode of SAR

Synthetic aperture radars(SARs)encounter the azimuth cutoff problem when observing sea waves.Consequently,SARs can only capture the waves with wavelengths larger than the cutoff wavelength and lose the information of waves with smaller wavelengths.To increase the accuracy of SAR wave observations,this paper investigates an azimuth cutoff compensation method based on the simulated multiview SAR wave synchronization data obtained by the collaborative observation via networked satellites.Based on the simulated data and the equivalent multiview measured data from Sentinel-1 virtual networking,the method is verified and the cutoff wavelengths decrease by 16.40%and 14.00%.The biases of the inversion significant wave height with true values decrease by 0.04 m and 0.14 m,and the biases of the mean wave period decrease by 0.17 s and 0.22 s,respectively.These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the azimuth cutoff compensation method.Based on the azimuth cutoff compensation method,the multisatellite SAR networking mode for wave observations are discussed.The highest compensation effect is obtained when the combination of azimuth angle is(95°,115°,135°),the orbital intersection angle is(50°,50°),and three or four satellites are used.The study of the multisatellite networking mode in this paper can provide valuable references for the compensation of azimuth cutoff and the observation of waves by a multisatellite network.

Comparison on Winter Wheat Yield Estimating Models Based on Radarsat-2 and HJ Satellite in Huaihe River Region

The establishment of crop yield estimating model based on microwave and optical satellite images can conduct the mutual verification of the accuracy of the reported crop yield and the precision of the estimating model. With Shou County and Huaiyuan County of Anhui Province as the experimental fields of winter wheat producing areas, the linear winter wheat yield estimating models were established by adopting backscattering coefficient and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index（NDVI） based on images from the synthetic aperture radar（SAR）—RDARSAT-2 and HJ satellite photographed in mid-April and early May, 2014, and then comparisons were conducted on the accuracy of the yield estimating models. The accuracies of the yield estimating models established using co-polarized（HH） and cross-polarized（HV） modes of SAR in Jiangou Town, Shou County were 68.37% and 74.01%, respectively, while the accuracies in Longkang Town, Huaiyuan County were 63.10%and 69.10%, respectively. Accuracies of yield estimating models established by HJ satellite data were 69.52% and 66.43% in Shou County and Huaiyuan County, respectively. Accuracies of winter yield estimating model based on HJ satellite data and that based on SAR were closed, and the yield difference of winter wheat in the lodging region was analyzed in detail. The model results laid the foundation and accumulated experience for the verification, parameters correction and promotion of the winter wheat yield estimating model.