Probability of detection of downed anricraft using SAR plarimetry

摘要

In developing a beaconless search and rescue capability to quickly locate smal;l aircraft that have crashed in remote areas, NASA's Search and Rescus Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR~2) program brings togher advanced polarimtric synthetic aperture radar processing, field and laboratory tests, and state-of-the-art automated target detection algorithms. The fundamental idea underlying the search and rescue (S&R) approadch is use of an airborne polarimetric radar. The downed aircraft is partoly composed of metal, and consists of regular gemoetric shapes such as flat plates, dihedrals, trihedrals, etc., which produce a polarization signature expected to be distinct from that of surounding terrain and foliage. Onboard polarimetric SAR image formation combined with automatic image explitation will ultimately cue the S&R temam to candidate acrash sites in near real-time. We empirically examine the probability of detection (P_D) a nd false alarm rate (FAR) for crash site detection using polarimetry to discriminate between aircraft target signatures within natural clutter. This briefing will present the latest results from the S&R Program activities, providing an update to the last program presentation to the SPIE Meeting in 1999.