A spectral approach to image-enhanced moving target radar detection

A difficult problem with ground moving target radar (GMTI) detection is how to consistently track targets moving through non-homogeneous regions of clutter such as forest and urban boundaries. Although attempts have been made to mitigate this detection problem using terrain mapping data, such data does not give current clutter information due to change in vegetation, roads, buildings, and seasonal variation. We propose to use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery to enhance the detection performance of GMTI radar. We use a multiresolution Markov model to represent both target and background clutter. This multiresolution structure allows us to accurately match GMTI clutter with the geographically registered SAR imagery for consistent moving target detection through clutter boundary areas.