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.

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We have developed a new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) algorithm based on physical models for the detection of a Man-Made Target (MMT) embedded in strong clutter (trunks in a forest). The physical models for the MMT and the clutter are represented by low-rank subspaces and are based on scattering and polarimetric properties. Our SAR algorithm applies the oblique projection of the received signal along the clutter subspace onto the target subspace. We compute its statistical performance in terms of probabilities of detection and false alarms. The performances of the proposed SAR algorithm are improved compared to those obtained with existing SAR algorithms: the MMT detection is greatly improved and the clutter is rejected. We also studied the robustness of our new SAR algorithm to interference modeling errors. Results on real FoPen (Foliage Penetration) data showed the usefulness of this approach.

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International audienceWe develop a new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) algorithm based on physical models for the detection of a man-made target (MMT) embedded in strong interferences (trunks of a forest). These physical models for the MMT and the interferences are integrated in low-rank subspaces and are based on scattering and polarimetric properties. Several images, called subspace SAR images, can be generated and combined considering these subspace models. We then propose a new approach for target detection and interference reduction based on the combination of SAR subspace images. We show that our SAR algorithm outperforms the classical SAR imagery algorithm on both simulated data and real data in the context of foliage penetration detection