Ship detection with TanDEM-X data: A statistical test for a polarimetric notch filter

Citation

Marino A & Hajnsek I (2014) Ship detection with TanDEM-X data: A statistical test for a polarimetric notch filter. In: volume Proceedings of the European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, EUSAR 2014. EUSAR 2014; 10th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, Berlin, 03.06.2014-05.06.2014. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, pp. 870-873. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6856934

Abstract
Ship detection is an important topic for security and surveillance of maritime and coastal areas. A solution exploiting satellite SAR sensors is particularly interesting. SAR polarimetry has a valuable contribution in improving ship detection capabilities. In this paper a statistical test is devised for a polarimetric ship detector, namely the Geometrical Perturbation-Polarimetric Notch Filter. The detector was showing good performance compared with other detectors however, the selection of the threshold was following a physical (or asymptotic) rationale. Here a study on the statistical distribution of the detector output is performed in order to design a Constant False Alarm Rate detector. The algorithm is tested on TanDEM-X data acquired in the North Sea under severe weather conditions. The data are also accompanied by acquisitions of AIS data.

Journal
Proceedings of the European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, EUSAR: Volume Proceedings of the European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, EUSAR 2014