Targets detecting in the ocean using the cross-polarized channels of fully polarimetric SAR data

Azimuth ambiguities (ghost targets) discrimination is of great interest with the development of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). And the azimuth ambiguities are often mistaken as actual targets and cause false alarms. For actual targets, HV channel signals acquired by a fully polarimetric SAR are approximately equal to a VH channel in magnitude and phase, i.e., the reciprocity theorem applies, but shifted in phase about ±π for the first-order azimuth ambiguities. Exploiting this physical behavior, the real part of the product of the two cross-polarized channels, i.e. (S_HVS_VH^*), hereafter called A_12r, is employed as a new parameter for a target detection at sea. Compared with other parameters, the contrast of A_12r image between a target and the surrounding sea surface will be obviously increased when A_12r image is processed by mean filtering algorithm. Here, in order to detect target with constant false-alarm rates (CFARs), an analytical expression for the probability density function (pdf) of A_12r is derived based on the complex Wishart-distribution. Because a value of A_12r is greater/less than 0 for real target/its azimuth ambiguities, the first-order azimuth ambiguities can be completely removed by this A_12r-based CFAR technology. Experiments accomplished over C-band RAdARSAT-2 fully polarimetric imageries confirm the validity.