Moving target detection in heterogeneous single channel SAR images

In view of poor coherence in multi-look synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data due to a heterogeneous background, a new technique was presented to highlight moving targets in single channel SAR images. Firstly, clutter suppression through tri-look image cancellation-after-interferometry (CAI) based on frequency even-partition of high level overlapping among sub-looks was performed. Secondly, change detection based on statistical analysis of a clutter-depressed image and reference image was applied. Finally, false alarms were reduced through the standard CFAR (constant false alarm ratio) threshold and proper morphological process. Experimental results were shown to validate the advantages of the proposed method in its clutter suppression and false alarm reduction.