Two-dimensional adaptive block Kalman filtering of SAR imagery

A method for removing speckle from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery by using 2-D adaptive block Kalman filtering is introduced. The image process is represented by an autoregressive model with a nonsymmetric half-plane (NSHP) region of support. New 2-D Kalman filtering equations are derived which taken into account not only the effect of speckles as multiplicative noise but also the effects of the additive receiver thermal noise and the blur. This method assumes local stationarity within a processing window, whereas the image can be assumed to be globally nonstationary. A recursive identification process using the stochastic Newton approach is also proposed which can be used on-line to estimate the filter parameters based upon the information within each new block of the image. Simulation results on several images are provided to indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method when used to remove the effects of speckle noise as well as those of the additive noise     

Sidelobe reduction via adaptive FIR filtering in SAR imagery.

The paper describes a class of adaptive weighting functions that greatly reduce sidelobes, interference, and noise in Fourier transform data. By restricting the class of adaptive weighting functions, the adaptively weighted Fourier transform data can be represented as the convolution of the unweighted Fourier transform with a data adaptive FIR filter where one selects the FIR filter coefficients to maximize signal-to-interference ratio. This adaptive sidelobe reduction (ASR) procedure is analogous to Capon's (1969) minimum variance method (MVM) of adaptive spectral estimation. Unlike MVM, which provides a statistical estimate of the real-valued power spectral density, thereby estimating noise level and improving resolution, ASR provides a single-realization complex-valued estimate of the Fourier transform that suppresses sidelobes and noise. Further, the computational complexity of ASR is dramatically lower than that of MVM, which is critical for large multidimensional problems such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation. ASR performance characteristics can be varied through the choice of filter order, l(1)- or l(2)-norm filter vector constraints and a separable or nonseparable multidimensional implementation. The author compares simulated point scattering SAR imagery produced by the ASR, MVM, and MUSIC algorithms and illustrates ASR performance on three sets of collected SAR imagery.     

The principle of speckle filtering in polarimetric SAR imagery

The principle of speckle reduction in polarimetry is reconsidered. It is shown that polarimetric data can be speckle reduced if and only if all the elements of the Mueller matrix are filtered, which is equivalent to filtering the scattering vector covariance matrix. Assuming that speckle is multiplicative and stationary, the algorithms proposed by S.L.Lee et al. (1991) and S.Goze et al. (1993) are extended to filter the covariance matrix of reciprocal and nonreciprocal targets on one-look and multilook images. The problem of estimation of the first- and second-order statistics of the four-channel speckle vector is discussed, and a solution is proposed for one-look and multilook images     

Complex SAR imagery and speckle filtering for wave imaging

A method is described to predict the wavenumber dependence of the speckle component in spectra of synthetic aperture radar intensity images. Filtering of this component is an important step in recovering waveheight spectra for synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images of the ocean, and an effective means of doing so is required for the 'wave mode' of the European satellite ERS-1. The method uses the correlation function of the corresponding complex images and has been tested using a variety of airborne and spaceborne imagery obtained over both land and sea. Examples are shown of both successful and unsuccessful applications of the method.<>     

Speckle filtering of SAR images based on adaptive windowing

Speckle noise usually occurs in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images owing to coherent processing of SAR data. The most well-known image domain speckle filters are the adaptive filters using local statistics such as the mean and standard deviation. The local statistics filters adapt the filter coefficients based on data within a fixed running window. In these schemes, depending on the window size, there exists trade-off between the extent of speckle noise suppression and the capability of preserving fine details. The authors propose a new adaptive windowing algorithm for speckle noise suppression which solves the problem of window size associated with the local statistics adaptive filters. In the algorithm, the window size is automatically adjusted depending on regional characteristics to suppress speckle noise as much as possible while preserving fine details. Speckle noise suppression gets stronger in homogeneous regions as the window size increases succeedingly. In fine detail regions, by reducing the window size successively, edges and textures are preserved. The fixed-window filtering schemes and the proposed one are applied to both a simulated SAR image and an ERS-1 SAR image to demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed adaptive windowing algorithm for speckle noise     

分形方法在SAR图像分割中的应用

SAR图像中人造地物和自然地貌很容易在某些特征上出现类似,使得利用传统方法提取的特征进行分割往往不可靠.相比自然地貌,人造地物显得比较规则,SAR图像的这一特点使得基于分形特征的分割算法成为可能.基于数学形态学理论提出了一个变结构元素的形态学分形维数估计方法,对复杂SAR图像进行分割.实验结果表明,该方法计算量小,可充分利用SAR图像的纹理信息.     

一种新的自适应小波阈值SAR图像滤波算法

为有效降低乘性斑点噪声对合成孔径雷达（SAR）图像的影响,提出了一种新的基于小波系数广义高斯分布（GGD）模型的自适应阈值估计去噪算法。首先分析了经对数变换的SAR图像小波系数的统计分布特性,然后提出了子带自适应阈值估计方法,通过对数变换,将该算法应用于含斑点噪声的SAR图像去噪。仿真图像和真实SAR图像的实验结果表明,该算法同目前流行的其他阈值算法相比,运算复杂度低,算法高效,并且在保留原始图像重要细节特征和图像后向散射特性的同时,显著地减少相干斑噪声。     

多尺度SVR的SAR图像复原

针对合成孔径雷达图像中存在斑点噪声的缺陷,将支持向量拟合方法引入小波系数收缩策略中,提出了基于多尺度SVR(support vector regression)的SAR图像复原算法。该方法在不同尺度下选用不同的核参数。为保护边缘结构信息,首先对各小波高频子带进行SVM拟合,然后计算原始小波系数与拟合估计值的绝对差,并定义小波系数收缩准则,根据准则对小波系数进行收缩,使复原的图像能较好的保持原有图像的纹理和结构信息。实验采用真实的SAR图像,实验结果显示该方法优于常规小波滤波和Lee滤波方法。     

Spatial compression of Seasat SAR imagery

The results of a study of the techniques for spatial compression of synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) imagery are summarized. Emphasis is on image-data volume reduction for archive and online storage applications while preserving the image resolution and radiometric fidelity. A quantitative analysis of various techniques, including vector quantization (VQ) and adaptive discrete cosine transform (ADCT), is presented. Various factors such as compression ratio, algorithm complexity, and image quality are considered in determining the optimal algorithm. The compression system requirements are established for electronic access of an online archive system based on the results of a survey of the science community. The various algorithms are presented and their results evaluated considering the effects of speckle noise and the wide dynamic range inherent in SAR imagery     

Improved multilook techniques applied to SAR and SCANSAR imagery

The multilook processing used in SAR (synthetic aperture radar) image formation to reduce the speckle noise is considered. Two multilook techniques are proposed for improving the radiometric resolution without altering the geometric resolution and the characteristics of the impulse response. These techniques are based on the formation of looks with different bandwidths. The final image is formed by giving each look a proper size and weighting, and by adding them incoherently. The looks with wide bandwidth contribute to an improvement of the overall geometric resolution, while the looks with narrow bandwidth improve the overall radiometric resolution. The equivalent number of looks is more than 2.3 times the number of independent looks and is superior to conventional multilook processing with overlapping. Finally, using the proposed techniques, an algorithm for efficient SAR and ScanSAR processing is presented, and its validity is proved by image comparison and analysis     

A state-space approach to adaptive RLS filtering

Adaptive filtering algorithms fall into four main groups: recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms and the corresponding fast versions; QR- and inverse QR-least squares algorithms; least squares lattice (LSL) and QR decomposition-based least squares lattice (QRD-LSL) algorithms; and gradient-based algorithms such as the least-mean square (LMS) algorithm. Our purpose in this article is to present yet another approach, for the sake of achieving two important goals. The first one is to show how several different variants of the recursive least-squares algorithm can be directly related to the widely studied Kalman filtering problem of estimation and control. Our second important goal is to present all the different versions of the RLS algorithm in computationally convenient square-root forms: a prearray of numbers has to be triangularized by a rotation, or a sequence of elementary rotations, in order to yield a postarray of numbers. The quantities needed to form the next prearray can then be read off from the entries of the postarray, and the procedure can be repeated; the explicit forms of the rotation matrices are not needed in most cases     

A new approach to subband adaptive filtering

Subband adaptive filtering has attracted much attention lately. In this paper, we propose a new structure and a new formulation for adapting the filter coefficients. This structure is based on polyphase decomposition of the filter to be adapted and is independent of the type of filter banks used in the subband decomposition. The new formulation yields improved convergence rate when the LMS algorithm is used for coefficient adaptation. As we increase the number of bands in the filter, the convergence rate increases and approaches the rate that can be obtained with a flat input spectrum. The computational complexity of the proposed scheme is nearly the same as that of the fullband approach. Simulation results are included to demonstrate the efficacy of the new approach     

A note on SAR imagery of the ocean

An example of SAR imagery of the ocean surface including the Gulf Stream Boundary reported by Moskowitz [1] is used to discuss potential mechanisms of SAR image formation of the ocean. It is pointed out that images in addition to those due to modulation of surface scatterer strength may result from organized scatterer motions such as those due to currents or wave orbital velocities. The modulation of scattering cross section by large waves is expected to depend on the magnitude and direction of the wind, making the relationship between image strengths and wave amplitudes rather complicated. It is suggested that the effect of wave orbital accelerations upon azimuthal focus might provide a more direct measure of wave amplitude.     

Multiscale MAP filtering of SAR images

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are disturbed by a multiplicative noise depending on the signal (the ground reflectivity) due to the radar wave coherence. Images have a strong variability from one pixel to another reducing essentially the efficiency of the algorithms of detection and classification. We propose to filter this noise with a multiresolution analysis of the image. The wavelet coefficient of the reflectivity is estimated with a Bayesian model, maximizing the a posteriori probability density function. The different probability density function are modeled with the Pearson system of distributions. The resulting filter combines the classical adaptive approach with wavelet decomposition where the local variance of high-frequency images is used in order to segment and filter wavelet coefficients.     

An adaptive multiscale inverse scattering approach to photothermal depth profilometry

Photothermal depth profilometry is formulated as a nonlinear inverse scattering problem. Starting with the one-dimensional heat diffusion equation, we derive a mathematical model relating arbitrary variation in the depth-dependent thermal conductivity to observed thermal wavefields at the surface of a material sample. The form of the model is particularly convenient for incorporation into a nonlinear optimization framework for is particularly convenient for incorporation into a nonlinear optimization framework for recovering the conductivity based on thermal wave data obtained at multiple frequencies. We develop an adaptive, multiscale algorithm for solving this highly ill-posed inverse problem. The algorithm is designed to produce an accurate, low-order representation of the thermal conductivity by automatically controlling the level of detail in the reconstruction. This control is designed to reflect both (1) the nature of the underlying physics, which says that scale should decrease with depth, and (2) the particular structure of the conductivity profile, which may require a sparse collection of fine-scale components to adequately represent significant features such as a layering structure. The approach is demonstrated in a variety of synthetic examples representative of nondestructive evaluation problems seen in the steel industry.The work of authors E. L. Miller and I. Yavuz was supported by a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation MIP-9623721, an ODDR&E MURI under Air Force Office of Scientific Research contract F49620-96-1-0028, and the Army Research Office Demining MURI under grant DAAG55-97-1-0013. The work of authors L. Nicolaides and A. Mandelis was supported by a research contract from Material and Manufacturing Ontario (MMO).     

SAR图像滤波的迭代方法

对合成孔径雷达图像迭代滤波处理的效果及其问题进行了分析,并结合统计滤波方法和小波分析方法,提出了一种基于细节补偿的MAP（BDC MAP）迭代滤波算法。实验结果表明,新的迭代滤波算法较好地解决了去噪和细节保留之间的矛盾,而且算法稳定,收敛很好。     

A spatial filtering approach to robust adaptive beaming

The problem of controlling the superresolution in adaptive beamformers is treated. A straightforward method is presented that works for both narrowband and broadband arrays. The method is based on forming the blocking matrix in a general sidelobe canceller structure using a spatial FIR filter. The suppression of this spatial filter and the implicit noise of the leaky least-mean-square algorithm together determine the beamformer     

Fractal electrodynamics. Scaling of the fractal antennas based on ring structures and multiscale frequency-selective 3D media and fractal sandwiches: Transition to fractal nanostructures

Computer simulation is employed to simulate the electrodynamic parameters of new fractal antennas and frequency-selective surfaces based on such antennas in the frequency range up to 20 GHz. The analysis of the original fractal antennas is supplemented with the study of the fractal frequency-selective 3D media or fractal sandwiches (i.e., radioelectronic fractal micro/nanostructures that contain no less than two layers. The efficiency of the fractal antennas and the fractal frequency-selective 3D media is demonstrated. The methods to create new passive electron components and elements for modern broadband and multifrequency radio systems based on such media are proposed     

SIFT在高分辨率SAR图像自动配准中的性能分析

合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像的自动配准长期以来都未能很好的解决,特别是高分辨率SAR图像其配准的关键是稳健的特征提取与特征匹配算法。在光学图像配准中,最常用的特征点提取算法是Harris算子,而近年来SIFT(尺度不变特性变换)算法也因其优越的性能成为当前比较流行的算法。探讨了Harris和SIFT特征提取算法在高分辨SAR图像自动配准中的应用,并选取4对有代表性的SAR图像进行了配准实验,对2种特征提取算法的运行时间、所提取匹配点对的正确率以及特征点的提取精度进行了比较。通过定性及定量分析,在同轨获取的高分辨率SAR图像配准中,SIFT均能实现精确配准,其适用性及精度均优于Harris。     

Statistical analysis of multi-look polarimetric SAR imagery

With a multiplicative speckle model, this paper shows the multi-look polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data obeys a generalized K-distribution. To validate this distribution model, the multi-look intensity K-distribution is particularly tested. The relationship between the heterogeneity coefficient of the scene and the proper statistical model is experimentally established. In addition, based on the results of the statistical analysis, an adaptive classification scheme is presented, and the improved classification shows the importance of the statistical analysis.