Automatic target recognition of time critical moving targets using 1D high range resolution (HRR) radar

Abstract

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging and automatic target recognition (ATR) of moving targets pose a significant challenge due to the inherent difficulty of focusing moving targets. As a result, ATR of moving targets has received increased interest. High range resolution (HRR) radar mode offers an approach for recognizing moving targets by forming focused HRR profiles with significantly enhanced target-to-(clutter+noise) (T/(C+N)) via Doppler filtering and/or clutter cancellation. A goal of HRR ATR transition is the implementation and evaluation of algorithms exhibiting robustness under extended operating conditions (EOC). A subset of the moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR) data set was used to study 1D template-based ATR development and performance. Due to the unavailability of a statistically significant moving ground target data set, this approach was taken as an interim step in assessing the separability of ground targets when using range only discriminants. This report summarizes the data and algorithm methodology, performance results, and recommendations.