A quasi-parametric algorithm for synthetic aperture radar target feature extraction and imaging with angle diversity

We present synthetic aperture radar (SAR) target feature extraction and imaging techniques with angle divesity. We first establish a flexible data model that describes each target scatterer as a two-dimensional (2D) complex sequence with arbitrary amplitude and constant phase in range and cross-range. A new algorithm, referred to as the QUasiparametric ALgorithm for target feature Extraction (QUALE), is then presented for SAR target feature extraction via data fusion through angle diversity based on the flexible data model. QUALE first estimates the model parameters, which include, for each scatterer, a 2D arbitrary real-valued amplitude sequence, a constant phase, and scatterer locations in range and cross-reange. QUALE then averages the estimated 2D real-valued amplitude sequence over range by making the assumption that the scatterer radar cross section is approximately consant. QUALE next models the so-obtained 1D sequence with a simple sinc function by assuming that the scatterer is approximately a dihedral (a trihedral is approximated as a very short dihedral) and estimates the relevant sinc function parameters by minimizing a nonlinear least-squares fitting function. Finally, the approximate 2D SAR image is reconstructed by using the estimated features. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the perfomance of the proposed algorithm.This work was supported in part by AFRL/SNAT, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Materiel Command, USAF, under grant no. F33615-99-1-1507, and the National Science Foundation Grant MIP-9457388. The U.S. Goverment is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.