Manmade-target detection algorithm for polarimetric SAR

This paper presents a target detection algorithm for a polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The algorithm includes the power maximization synthesis (PMS),a polarimetric whitening filter (PWF) detector and an optimal polarimetric detector (OPD). The PMS detection output is used to optimize the PWF input with the PWF detection output then used to optimize the OPD input. The iteration is used to improve the performance with a criterion proposed to compare the performance of different polarimetric target detection algorithms that different detection algorithms should select the same number of pixels as their detection results and that the algorithm with fewer false alarms is the best. Experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the algorithm is better than the other algorithms,and that the criterion is more appropriate for the comparison of different polarimetric target detection algorithms.