New polarimetric signal subspace detectors for SAR processors

Abstract Our studies aim at detecting targets embedded in a complex environment for radar applications. This article deals with new polarimetric SAR (synthetic aperture radar) processors based on subspace detectors. These algorithms use models of targets including physical and polarimetric properties of their scattering on the contrary to the isotropic point model that is commonly used. These processors are implemented by computing the corresponding subspaces that contain the relevant responses of the target. We choose for application the detection of targets under forest foliage. The obtained results both on simulated data of realistic targets and real data show the interest of these new processors.