SAR target feature extraction using the 2D continuous wavelet transform

In this paper, we introduce the 2D continuous wavelet transform (CWT) as a tool for the detection stages of an SAR ATR system. We demonstrate that the 2D CWT tuned to reasonable target sizes can enhance the signal to clutter radio and improve detection performance in a focus of attention algorithm as compared to the traditional CFAR algorithm. We also show that the 2D CWT can be used to estimate the size and pose of a target, which can provide important features for second level detection. The detection and feature extraction algorithms were tested on measured one foot resolution SAR data.

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