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This letter addresses the detection problem of dim maneuvering targets in the presence of range cell migration. Specifically, it is assumed that the moving target can appear in more than one range cell within the transmitted pulse train. Then, the Bayesian information criterion and the generalized likelihood ratio test design procedure are jointly exploited to come up with six adaptive decision schemes capable of estimating the range indices related to the target migration. The computational complexity of the proposed detectors is also studied and suitably reduced. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the newly proposed solutions also for a limited set of training data and in comparison with suitable counterparts., 5 pages

In this paper, we address the problem of target detection in the presence of coherent (or fully correlated) signals, which can be due to multipath propagation effects or electronic attacks by smart jammers. To this end, we formulate the problem at hand as a multiple-hypothesis test that, besides the conventional radar alternative hypothesis, contains additional hypotheses accounting for the presence of an unknown number of interfering signals. In this context and leveraging the classification capabilities of the Model Order Selection rules, we devise penalized likelihood-ratio-based detection architectures that can establish, as a byproduct, which hypothesis is in force. Moreover, we propose a suboptimum procedure to estimate the angles of arrival of multiple coherent signals ensuring (at least for the considered parameters) almost the same performance as the exhaustive search. Finally, the performance assessment, conducted over simulated data and in comparison with conventional radar detectors, highlights that the proposed architectures can provide satisfactory performance in terms of probability of detection and correct classification., Comment: 13 pages

In this article, a target detection problem in homogeneous Gaussian noise with unknown covariance matrix is examined using multiple observations, which may be collected from multiple range cells, bands, and/or coherent processing intervals. In order to take into consideration mismatches of the target steering vector, we adopt a subspace model where the target steering vector is assumed to lie in a subspace spanned by the column vectors of a known matrix with unknown target coordinates. By exploiting persymmetric structures, we propose several adaptive detectors according to ad hoc modifications of generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT), Rao test, and Wald test. It is found that the Rao test does not exist, whereas the two-step Wald test shares the same form as the two-step GLRT. Numerical examples show that the robustness of the proposed detectors is better than that of their counterparts in general. In particular, the proposed one-step GLRT is the most robust in most cases, and the proposed two-step GLRT and one-step Wald test can be more robust than the one-step GLRT in the case where the number of training data is small.

In this letter, we design a novel unsupervised architecture for automatic classification of the dominant polarization in polarimetric SAR images. To this end, we leverage the ideas developed in [1] and suitably exploit them to build a decision logic capable of recognizing the dominant scattering mechanism which characterizes the pixel under test. Specifically, we combine the original data to generate three different sets of reduced-size vectors, which feed dominant eigenvalues classifier based upon the model order selection rules. Then, the outputs of the latter classification schemes are exploited to infer, according to a specific criterion, the dominant polarization. The performance analysis is conducted on the measured data and points out the effectiveness of the newly proposed classification architecture also showing that information about the dominant polarization can be representative of the type of structure which gives raise to the dominant backscattering mechanism.

In this paper, we deal with the problem of detecting point-like targets in the presence of Gaussian disturbance with unknown covariance matrix. In particular, we consider the so-called partially homogeneous environment, where the disturbances in both the cell under test (CUT) and the secondary data share the same covariance matrix up to an unknown power scaling factor. Specifically, we model the disturbance as a multichannel autoregressive Gaussian process and exploit the spillover of target energy to consecutive range samples, in order to improve the performances of detection and range estimation. In this context, we come up with three adaptive architectures relying on the ad hoc modifications of the generalized likelihood ratio test and Wald test. The performance assessment, conducted resorting to both simulated data and recorded live data, highlights that the proposed decision schemes can provide accurate estimates of the target position within the CUT and ensure enhanced detection performance compared with their natural competitors.

In this paper, we investigate the anomaly detection problem for widespread targets with known spacial patterns under a local Gaussian model when training data are available. Three adaptive detectors are proposed based on the principles of the generalized likelihood ratio test, the Rao test, and the Wald test, respectively. We prove that these tests are statistically equivalent to each other. In addition, analytical expressions for the probability of false alarm and probability of detection of the proposed detectors are obtained, which are verified through Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that these detectors have a constant false alarm rate against the covariance matrix. Finally, numerical examples using synthetic and real hyperspectral data demonstrate that these training data assisted detectors have better detection performance than their counterparts without training data.

In this paper, authors propose a new procedure to provide a tool for monitoring critical infrastructures. Particularly, through the analysis of COSMO-SkyMed satellite data, a detailed and updated survey is provided, for monitoring the accelerating destabilization process of the Mosul dam, that represents the largest hydraulic facility of Iraq and is located on the Tigris river. The destructive potential of the wave that would be generated, in the event of the dam destruction, could have serious consequences. If the concern for human lives comes first, the concern for cultural heritage protection is not negligible, since several archaeological sites are located around the Mosul dam. The proposed procedure is an in-depth modal assessment based on the micro-motion estimation, through a Doppler sub-apertures tracking and a Multi-Chromatic Analysis (MCA). The method is based initially on the Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI) that is also discussed for completeness and validation. The modal analysis has detected the presence of several areas of resonance that could mean the presence of cracks, and the results have shown that the dam is still in a strong destabilization. Moreover, the dam appears to be divided into two parts: the northern part is accelerating rapidly while the southern part is decelerating and a main crack in this north-south junction is found. The estimated velocities through the PS-InSAR technique show a good agreement with the GNSS in-situ measurements, resulting in a very high correlation coefficient and showing how the proposed procedure works efficiently., 13 pages, 24 figures

In this letter, the problem of environment classification in the radar context is addressed. Specifically, adaptive architectures are conceived to classify training data, used for covariance estimation, as either homogeneous or heterogeneous. Such architectures are based upon the generalized likelihood ratio test criterion and exploit three covariance matrix structures (i.e., Hermitian, persymmetric, and symmetric structures). Numerical examples based on both synthetic and real data confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. It is important to highlight that the proposed architectures might represent a preliminary stage whose decisions can be used to select a suitable covariance estimate for target detection purposes.

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the separation of the height between the ground subsidence phase components and the atmospheric phase delay mixed in the global SAR interferometry (InSAR) phase information is an issue of primary concern in the remote sensing community. This paper describes a complete procedure to address the challenge to estimate the atmospheric phase screen and to separate the three-phase components by exploiting only one InSAR image couple. This solution has the capability to process persistent scatterers subsidence maps potentially using only two multitemporal InSAR couples observed in any atmospheric condition. The solution is obtained by emulating the atmosphere compensation technique that is largely used by the global positioning system where two frequencies are used in order to estimate and compensate the positioning errors due to atmosphere parameters' variations. A sub-chirping and sub-Doppler algorithm for atmospheric compensation is proposed, which allows the successful separation of the height from the subsidence and the atmosphere parameters from the interferometric phase observed on one InSAR couple. The results are given processing images of two InSAR couples observed by the COSMO-SkyMed satellite system.

In bearings-only target tracking, the pseudo-linear Kalman filter (PLKF) attracts much attention because of its stability and its low computational burden. However, the PLKF’s measurement vector and the pseudo-linear noise are correlated, which makes it suffer from bias problems. Although the bias-compensated PLKF (BC–PLKF) and the instrumental variable-based PLKF (IV–PLKF) can eliminate the bias, they only work well when the target behaves with non-manoeuvring movement. To extend the PLKF to the manoeuvring target tracking scenario, an unbiased PLKF (UB–PLKF) algorithm, which splits the noise away from the measurement vector directly, is proposed. Based on the results of the UB–PLKF, we also propose its velocity-constrained version (VC–PLKF) to further improve the performance. Simulations show that the UB–PLKF and VC–PLKF outperform the BC–PLKF and IV–PLKF both in non-manoeuvring and manoeuvring scenarios.

The capability of sensors to identify individuals in a specific scenario is a topic of high relevance for sensitive sectors such as public security. A traditional approach involves cameras, however, camera-based surveillance systems lack discretion and have high computational and storing requirements in order to perform human identification. Moreover, they are strongly influenced by external factors (e.g., light and weather). This paper proposes an approach based on a temporal convolutional deep neural networks classifier applied to radar micro-Doppler signatures in order to identify individuals. Both sensor and processing requirements ensure a low size weight and power profile, enabling large scale deployment of discrete human identification systems. The proposed approach is assessed on real data concerning 106 individuals. The results show good accuracy of the classifier (the best obtained accuracy is 0.89 with an F1-score of 0.885) and improved performance when compared to other standard approaches.

In this paper we consider the tracking problem of a moving target competing against noise and clutter in a surveillance radar scenario. For a single array-antenna multiple-target tracking system and according to the Track-Before-Detect paradigm, we present a novel approach based on a three-stage processing chain that involves the Sparse Learning via Iterative Minimization algorithm, the k-means clustering method and the ad hoc detector by exploiting the sparse nature of the operating scenario. Under the latter assumption, the detection strategy declares the presence of targets subsequently to the retrieval of their corresponding tracks performed by jointly processing the received echoes of multiple consecutive radar scans. Simulation results show that the proposed approach is able to provide good tracking and detection capabilities for different multiple target trajectories with low Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise ratio and results in providing advantages when compared to a number of other reference Track-Before-Detect strategies based on sparse data processing techniques.

Large infrastructures need continuous maintenance because of materials degradation due to atmospheric agents and their persistent use. This problem makes it imperative to carry out persistent monitoring of infrastructure health conditions in order to guarantee maximum safety at all times. The main issue of early warning infrastructure fault detection is that expensive in-situ distributed monitoring sensor networks have to be installed. On the contrary, the use of satellite data has made it possible to use immediate and low-cost techniques in recent years. In this regard, the potential of spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar for the monitoring of critical infrastructures is demonstrated in geographically extended areas, even in the presence of clouds, and in really tough weather. A complete procedure for damage early-warning detection is designed, by using micro-motion (m-m) estimation of critical sites, based on modal proprieties analysis. Particularly, m-m is processed to extract modal features such as natural frequencies and mode shapes generated by vibrations of large infrastructures. Several study cases are here considered and the “Morandi” Bridge (Polcevera Viaduct) in Genoa (Italy) is analyzed in depth highlighting abnormal vibration modes during the period before the bridge collapsed.

In this work, we develop and compare two innovative strategies for parameter estimation and radar detection of multiple point-like targets. The first strategy, which appears here for the first time, jointly exploits the maximum likelihood approach and Bayesian learning to estimate targets' parameters including their positions in terms of range bins. The second strategy relies on the intuition that for high signal-to-interference plus-noise ratio values, the energy of data containing target components projected onto the nominal steering direction should be higher than the energy of data affected by interference only. The adaptivity with respect to the interference covariance matrix is also considered exploiting a training data set collected in the proximity of the window under test. Finally, another important innovation aspect concerns the adaptive estimation of the unknown number of targets by means of the model order selection rules., 5 pages, 4 figures

In this paper, four adaptive radar architectures for target detection in heterogeneous Gaussian environments are devised. The first architecture relies on a cyclic optimization exploiting the Maximum Likelihood Approach in the original data domain, whereas the second detector is a function of transformed data which are normalized with respect to their energy and with the unknown parameters estimated through an Expectation-Maximization-based alternate procedure. The remaining two architectures are obtained by suitably combining the estimation procedures and the detector structures previously devised. Performance analysis, conducted on both simulated and measured data, highlights that the architecture working in the transformed domain guarantees the constant false alarm rate property with respect to the interference power variations and a limited detection loss with respect to the other detectors, whose detection thresholds nevertheless are very sensitive to the interference power.

The capability to perform Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) from SAR images has great importance for both civilian and military applications. However, this task becomes challenging when the quality and quantity of target information is not sufficient to reliably discriminate the targets. This is particularly important when dealing with marine targets, where features such as scattering intensities and shapes are common to many different targets. This paper investigates the possibility to enhance classification capabilities of marine targets in SAR images by exploiting the micro-motion information. This characterizing source of information, is extracted by applying Doppler sub-apertures and pixel tracking on SAR images containing the target of interest. The proposed approach is validated on real COSMO-SkyMed SAR data demonstrating the effectiveness to discriminate ships through their unique Doppler fingerprint.

In this paper, we examine the normalized output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a sample matrix inversion beamformer exploiting the persymmetry of the received data. The persymmetry commonly exists in the received data, when a symmetrically spaced linear array and/or symmetrically spaced pulse trains are utilized. An exact expression for the probability density function (PDF) of the normalized output SINR is derived in the mismatched case. This PDF is verified using Monte Carlo simulations. Numerical examples indicate that the exploitation of persymmetry is equivalent to doubling the training data size, and hence can greatly alleviate the requirement of training data in adaptive processing.

The capability of human identification in specific scenarios and in a quickly and accurately manner, is a critical aspect in various surveillance applications. In particular, in this context, classical survaillance systems are based on videocameras, requiring high computational/storing resources, which are very sensitive to light and weather conditions. In this paper, an efficient classifier based on deep learning is used for the purpose of identifying individuals features by resorting to the micro-Doppler data extracted from low-power frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar measurements. Results obtained through the application of a deep temporal convolutional neural networks confirms the applicability of deep learning to the problem at hand. Best obtained identification accuracy is 0.949 with an F-measure of 0.88 using a temporal window of four seconds.

In this work, temporal series of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data are used to estimate water elevations. The proposed method is based on a Sub-Pixel Offset Tracking (technique) to retrieve the displacement of the double-bounce scattering effect of man-made structures located in the proximity of the water surface. The experimental setup is focused on the cases of the Mosul dam in Iraq and the Missouri river in Kansas City. The proposed approach is applied to real data from the COSMO-SkyMed program. Results validated with in-situ and satellite radar altimeter measurements prove the effectiveness of the proposed method in measuring the water levels.

This paper devises a tunable detection architecture to deal with mismatched signals embedded in Gaussian interference with unknown covariance matrix based on a sparse recovery technique. Specifically, a sparse learning method is exploited to estimate the amplitude and angle of arrival of the possible targets, which are then employed to design detectors relying on the two-stage detection paradigm. Remarkably, the new decision scheme exhibits a bounded-constant false alarm rate property. The performance assessment, carried out through Monte Carlo simulations, shows that the new detectors can outperform classic counterparts in terms of rejecting mismatched signals, while retaining reasonable detection performance for matched signals.

In this paper, we investigate the anomaly detection problem for multi-pixel targets in hyperspectral imagery when training data are available. We derive the generalized likelihood ratio test and obtain its analytical expressions of the probability of false alarm and probability of detection. The performance of the proposed detector is evaluated by using simulated and real data. The results demonstrate that this training data assisted detector outperforms its counterpart without training data.

This paper considers the design of tunable decision schemes capable of rejecting with high probability mismatched signals embedded in Gaussian interference with unknown covariance matrix. To this end, a sparse recovery technique is exploited to enhance the resolution at which the target angle of arrival is estimated with the objective to obtain high-selective detectors. The outcomes of this estimation procedure are used to devise detection architectures relying on either the twostage design paradigm or heuristic design procedures based upon the generalized likelihood ratio test. Remarkably, the new decision rules exhibit a bounded-constant false alarm rate property and allow for a tradeoff between the matched detection performance and the rejection of undesired signals by tuning a design parameter. At the analysis stage, the performance of the newly proposed detectors is assessed also in comparison with existing selective competitors. The results show that the new detectors can outperform the considered counterparts in terms of rejection of unwanted signals, while retaining reasonable detection performance of matched signals., 13 pages, 13 figures

In this paper, we address the problem of classifying clutter returns in order to partition them into statistically homogeneous subsets. The classification procedure relies on a model for the observables including latent variables that is solved by the expectation-maximization algorithm. The derivations are carried out by accounting for three different cases for the structure of the clutter covariance matrix. A preliminary performance analysis highlights that the proposed technique is a viable means to cluster clutter returns over the range., 12 pages, 13 figures

In this letter, we address adaptive radar detection of point-like targets in Gaussian clutter with an unknown covariance matrix. To this end, we first exploit the symmetrically structured power spectral density of the clutter to transfer data from the complex to the real domain. Then, the spillover of target energy is incorporated into the design criteria to come up with two architectures capable of guaranteeing improved detection performances and range estimation. The performance assessments, conducted on both simulated data and real recorded datasets, demonstrate the effectiveness of the newly proposed detectors compared with the state-of-the-art counterparts, which ignore either the clutter spectral symmetry or the energy spillover.

The adaptive classification of the interference covariance matrix structure for radar signal processing applications is addressed in this paper. This represents a key issue because many detection architectures are synthesized assuming a specific covariance structure which may not necessarily coincide with the actual one due to the joint action of the system and environment uncertainties. The considered classification problem is cast in terms of a multiple hypotheses test with some nested alternatives and the theory of model order selection (MOS) is exploited to devise suitable decision rules. Several MOS techniques, such as the Akaike, Takeuchi, and Bayesian information criteria, are adopted and the corresponding merits and drawbacks are discussed. At the analysis stage, illustrating examples for the probability of correct model selection are presented showing the effectiveness of the proposed rules.

In this paper, we address the problem of detecting a point-like target embedded in clutter characterized by a symmetrically structured power spectral density and persymmetric covariance matrix. In particular, we consider the so-called partially homogeneous environment, where the cell under test and the training samples share the same covariance matrix up to an unknown power scaling factor. At the design stage, we jointly exploit the spectral properties of the clutter and the persymmetric structure of the clutter covariance matrix to reformulate the decision problem in terms of real variables with an increased number of training samples. Then, we derive two adaptive detectors relying on the Rao test and a suitable modification of the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT). The performance analysis, conducted on both simulated and real radar data, confirms the superiority of the newly proposed receivers over the traditional state-of-the-art counterparts which ignore either the persymmetry or the symmetric spectrum.

Nowadays, a worldwide database containing the historical and reliable data concerning the water surface speed of rivers is not available and would be highly desirable. In order to meet this requirement, the present work is aimed at the design of an estimation procedure for water flow velocity by means of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The main technical aspect of the proposed procedure is that an along-track geometry is synthesized using a single antenna and a single image. This is achieved by exploiting a multichromatic analysis in the Doppler domain. The application of this approach allows us to obtain along-track interferometry equivalent virtual baselines much lower than the equivalent baseline corresponding to the decorrelation time of raw data preserving data coherence. The performance analysis, conducted on live airborne full-polarimetric SAR data, highlights the effectiveness of the proposed approach in providing reliable river surface velocity estimates without the need of multiple passes on the observed scene.

This paper describes a new framework that, exploiting the Kullback-Leibler Divergence, allows to address the design of one-stage adaptive detectors for multiple hypothesis testing problems. Precisely, at the design stage, the problem is formulated in terms of multiple alternative hypotheses competing with the null hypothesis. Then, a one-stage decision scheme is derived in the context of both known model and unknown parameters as well as for the most general case of unknown model and parameters. Interestingly, the resulting detectors are given by the sum of the compressed log-likelihood ratio based on the available data and a penalty term depending on the number of unknown parameters. This general architecture is then particularized to the problem of subspace target detection, and its effectiveness is assessed through simulations also in comparison with its counterpart based on the two-stage paradigm.

In this paper, we devise adaptive decision schemes to detect targets competing against clutter and smart noise-like jammers (NLJ) which illuminate the radar system from the sidelobes. Specifically, the considered class of NLJs generates a pulse of noise (noise cover pulse) that is triggered by and concurrent with the received uncompressed pulse in order to mask the skin echo and, hence, to hide the true target range. The detection problem is formulated as a binary hypothesis test and two different models for the NLJ are considered. Then, ad hoc modifications of the generalized likelihood ratio test are exploited where the unknown parameters are estimated by means of cyclic optimization procedures. The performance analysis is carried out using simulated data and proves the effectiveness of the proposed approach for both situations where the NLJ is either active or switched off., 11 pages, 11 figures

We exploit persymmetry to study the adaptive detection problem with multiple observations in partially homogeneous environments where noise shares the same covariance matrix up to different power levels between the test and training data. A persymmetric subspace model is designed for taking into account steering vector mismatches. Based on the persymmetric subspace model, we propose a generalized likelihood ratio test in partially homogeneous environments. The proposed detector is proved to exhibit a constant false alarm rate property against both the covariance matrix structure and the scaling factor. Numerical examples show that the proposed detector, compared to its counterparts, is more robust to steering vector mismatches.

In this paper, we propose a novel strategy to estimate the micro-motion (m-m) of ships from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. To this end, observe that the problem of motion and m-m detection of targets is usually solved using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) along-track interferometry through two radars spatially separated by a baseline along the azimuth direction. The approach proposed in this paper for m-m estimation of ships, occupying thousands of pixels, processes the information generated during the coregistration of several re-synthesized time-domain and not overlapped Doppler sub-apertures. Specifically, the SAR products are generated by splitting the raw data according to a temporally small baseline using one single wide-band staring spotlight (ST) SAR image. The predominant vibrational modes of different ships are then estimated. The performance analysis is conducted on one ST SAR image recorded by COSMO-SkyMed satellite system. Finally, the newly proposed approach paves the way for application to the surveillance of land-based industry activities.

A new architecture is conceived to face with the problem of target detection in the presence of possible structured jammers. Remarkably, from the point of view of radar metrology, such architecture can provide indirect measurements of the number of interfering signals, their direction of arrival and the power, which are used to solve a signal classification problem. To this end, the sparse nature of data is brought to light and the compressive sensing paradigm is applied to estimate target response and coherent jammers amplitudes. Then, the likelihood ratio test, where the unknown covariance matrix is replaced by its estimate based upon conventional secondary data, is designed. The entire architecture is assessed in terms of detection and estimation capabilities resorting to simulated data.

In this paper, we deal with the problem of detecting a point-like target in a homogeneous interference environment characterized by the presence of clutter, noise-like jamming, and radar internal noise. To this end, we assume that two sets of training data which contain different interference components are available. Within this context, we propose a two-step estimation procedure to provide an accurate estimate of the interference covariance matrix. The latter is then used to construct an adaptive detector resorting to the two-step modification of the generalized likelihood ratio test. Finally, a preliminary performance assessment demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method achieving better performance with respect to the other state-of-the-art detector in the case of sample starved scenarios.

In this paper, the problem of the detection and localization of clutter edges within training data is addressed. This is accomplished through a procedure capable of discriminating between either a unique homogeneous set or two heterogeneous subsets within a sliding window moving over the set of range bins of interest. The problem is first formulated as a binary hypothesis test assuming that the rank of the covariance clutter component is known and solved resorting to the generalized likelihood ratio test. Then, in the case of no a priori knowledge about the rank of the clutter covariance matrix, a preliminary estimation stage relying on the model order selection rules is devised. Interestingly, the estimates provided by the detection stage can be processed by a fusion algorithm in order to improve the quality of the location estimate of the clutter edge. Finally, the performance analysis conducted in comparison with a suitable competitor highlights the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

In this letter, we devise and assess a new algorithm to detect a platform equipped with self-screening jamming systems. The latter illuminates the victim radar by means of noise-like signals leading to an increase of the constant false alarm rate threshold (at the detection stage) and a reduction of radar sensitivity. The problem is formulated in terms of a binary hypothesis test exploiting the rank-one modification of the interference covariance matrix introduced by the jammer and the generalized likelihood ratio test is derived. Performance analysis is conducted on simulated data and is aimed at highlighting the effectiveness of this new approach.

This paper describes the adaptive detection of point-like targets in a Gaussian environment assuming a group symmetric structure for the interference covariance matrix. This special configuration enforces block-sparsity and permits splitting of the original observation space into lower-dimensional subspaces, each characterized by its own nuisance parameters. Hence, the Principle of Invariance is invoked to select decision rules enjoying some symmetry defined by a suitable group of transformations which leave the decision problem unaltered. All the invariant tests can be expressed as functions of a maximal invariant statistic whose derivation is among the key results of this paper. Finally, some common design criteria are applied to come up with adaptive architectures that share invariance, and their behavior is assessed to highlight the interplay between sample size and detection performance in comparison with conventional decision schemes.

In this paper, we deal with the problem of polarimetric diversity detection for point-like targets in the presence of Gaussian clutter with unknown covariance matrix. To this end, we jointly exploit the polarization diversity and the spillover of target energy to consecutive range samples to improve the performances of detection and range localization. For estimation purposes, we assume that a set of secondary data (free of signal components) is available with the same covariance matrix as the clutter in the cells under test. Because the uniformly most powerful test does not exist for this problem, we derive two adaptive detectors: the generalized likelihood ratio test and the Wald test. Interestingly, these new receivers ensure the constant false alarm rate property with respect to covariance matrix of the clutter. The performance assessments conducted on both simulated data and real recorded dataset reveal that the proposed detectors outperform, in both detection and localization, the traditional state-of-the-art counterparts that ignore either the polarimetry or the spillover.

We exploit persymmetry to study the adaptive detection problem with multiple observations in partially homogeneous environments where noise shares the same covariance matrix up to different power levels between the test and training data. A persymmetric subspace model is designed for taking into account steering vector mismatches. Based on the persymmetric subspace model, we propose adaptive detectors in partially homogeneous environments, according to the criteria of two-step generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT), Wald test, and Rao test. It is found that the proposed GLRT and Wald test coincide, while the Rao test does not exist. The proposed detector is proved to exhibit a constant false alarm rate property against both the covariance matrix structure and the scaling factor. Numerical examples show that the proposed detector, compared to its counterparts, is more robust to steering vector mismatches.

This paper considers the detection and tracking of dim targets for multiple pulse repetition frequency (PRF) pulsed Doppler radar systems through the use of multi-frame track-before-detect (TBD) methods. The main challenge is that each measurement frame is a mixture with measurements recorded, periodically, at different PRF settings, thus with different range and Doppler ambiguities. To achieve this goal, we propose variable step size multi-PRF and multi-frame (or scan) TBD (MP-MF-TBD) algorithm. Specifically, by incorporating the ambiguity factors related to both the range and velocity ambiguities, MP-MF-TBD first accomplishes the target SNR integration directly using multiple ambiguous measurement frames. After analyzing the properties of the over-threshold tracks, we further propose an efficient detection procedure, which can effectively eliminate the false tracks caused by the measurement ambiguities and accomplish the target kinematic state estimation and multi-PRF ambiguity resolution simultaneously. The proposed MP-MF-TBD does not require certain limitations on the PRF type (i.e., low, medium and high PRF) or the number of PRFs in pulsed Doppler radar systems, and appears to be robust to the target loss when target fall into a blind frequency band of certain PRFs. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed MP-MF-TBD by comparing with classical techniques.

This paper addresses adaptive radar detection of dim moving targets. To circumvent range migration, the detection problem is formulated as a multiple hypothesis test and solved applying model order selection rules which allow to estimate the "position" of the target within the CPI and eventually detect it. The performance analysis proves the effectiveness of the proposed approach also in comparison to existing alternatives., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to IEEE Signal Processing Letters

This letter proposes a novel technique for automatic classification of the dominant scattering mechanisms associated with the pixels of polarimetric SAR images. Focusing on the heterogeneous scenario wherein the polarimetric image pixels share the same covariance but different power levels, the original data are replaced by a maximal invariant statistic in order to remove the dependence on the scaling factors. Then, the classification problem is formulated as a multiple hypothesis test which is addressed by applying the model order selection rules. The performance analysis is conducted on both simulated and measured data and points out the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

In this paper, an automatic classification approach for polarimetric covariance structure is derived and assessed. It extends the framework of Pallotta et al. “Detecting Covariance Symmetries in Polarimetric SAR Images” to the heterogeneous environment, where the pixels of the polarimetric image share the same covariance structure but different power levels. The Principle of Invariance is exploited to replace the original data with a suitable statistic whose distribution is independent of the scale factors. Then, the classification problem is formulated in terms of a multiple hypotheses test and solved by means of model order selection rules. The behavior of the newly devised classifiers is first assessed over simulated data also in comparison with the analogous counterparts for a homogeneous environment. Next, the classification performances are evaluated on real measured data corroborating the satisfactory results highlighted in the simulations.

In this letter, an adaptive approach to classify the structure of the Interference Covariance Matrix (ICM) is proposed. It extends the framework of [1] to the heterogeneous environment where the secondary radar data used to estimate the ICM share the same covariance structure but different power levels. In particular, the considered classification problem is formulated in terms of a multiple hypothesis test and the Principle of Invariance is exploited to replace original data with a suitable statistic whose distribution is independent of the power scaling factors. Then, classification schemes are devised resorting to model order selection rules. At the analysis stage, the effectiveness of the newly devised classifiers is illustrated over simulated data as well as radar measured data.

In this paper, we describe novel techniques for automatic classification of the dominant scattering mechanisms associated with the pixels of polarimetric SAR images. Specifically, we investigate two operating scenarios. In the first scenario, it is assumed that the polarimetric image pixels locally share the same covariance (homogeneous environment), whereas the second scenario considers polarimetric pixels with different power levels and the same covariance structure (heterogeneous environment). In the second case, we invoke the Principle of Invariance to get rid of the dependence on the power levels. For both scenarios, we formulate the classification problem in terms of multiple hypothesis tests which is addressed by applying the model-order selection rules. The performance analysis is conducted on both simulated and measured data and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. © 2019 IEEE.

Model Order Selection (MOS) rules are exploited to devise two adaptive architectures for multiple noise-like jammer detection which process clutter-free data. Specifically, the former contains a MOS-based stage, that makes inference on the number of jammers, and a detection stage, that confirms the presence of the jammers suitably exploiting the estimates provided by the first stage. On the other hand, the latter architecture, which relies on the Modified Likelihood Ratio Test proposed in [1], jointly performs detection and estimation. Remarkably, both guarantee the constant false alarm rate property with respect to the thermal noise power. At the analysis stage, the performance of the proposed architectures are investigated highlighting the interplay among the different parameters.

This paper deals with adaptive radar detection of a point-like target in a homogeneous environment characterized by the presence of clutter, jamming, and radar internal noise. At the design stage, two training datasets, whose gathering is carefully motivated in the paper, are considered to get receiver adaptation. Hence, the maximum likelihood estimator of the interference covariance matrix for the cell under test is computed exploiting both the available secondary sets. This estimate is then used to build two adaptive decision rules based on the two-step generalized likelihood ratio test and Rao test criteria. Remarkably, they are not limited by the conventional constraint on the cardinality of the classic training dataset. At the analysis stage, the detection performances of the newly proposed detectors are compared with those of the analogous conventional counterparts and the interplay among the different parameters of the problem is thoroughly studied.

Modified versions of Rao, Wald, and Durbin tests are considered exploiting an estimator of the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM) in place of the exact one. They are asymptotically equivalent (under some technical conditions) to the standard counterparts and rely on the use of the Observed FIM (OFIM), which is proportional to the negative Hessian of the log-likelihood. The developed framework is applied to the problem of adaptive radar detection of a point-like target in homogeneous or partially-homogeneous interference. Remarkably, for both the scenarios, it is shown that Rao, Wald, and Durbin tests with OFIM are statistically equivalent to the Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) for the specific detection problem (namely Kelly's detector for the homogeneous environment and the Adaptive Coherence Estimator (ACE) [S. Kraut and L. L. Scharf, “The CFAR adaptive subspace detector is a scale-invariant GLRT,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 47, no. 9, pp. 2538–2541, Sep. 1999.], also known as Adaptive Normalized Matched Filter (ANMF) [E. Conte, M. Lops, and G. Ricci, “Asymptotically optimum radar detection in compound-gaussian clutter,” IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst. , vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 617–625, Apr. 1995], for the partially-homogeneous scenario). This provides a new interpretation of the mentioned GLRTs laying the foundations for a better understanding of their theoretical validity.

We consider the problem of detecting point-like targets in the presence of interference and Gaussian noise. The target and interference are described by subspace models where the target and interference subspaces are linearly independent. Persymmetry is exploited to propose an adaptive detector to alleviate the requirement of training data. This detector exhibits a constant false alarm rate against the noise covariance matrix. We derive analytical expressions for the probability of false alarm and the detection probability of the proposed detector, which are verified using Monte Carlo simulations. These theoretical expressions can greatly facilitate threshold setting and performance evaluation. The superiority of the proposed detector over conventional ones is its ability to work in the sample-starved situation where the training data size is less than (but more than half of) the data dimension. Numerical examples indicate that the proposed detector outperforms its counterparts.

This paper deals with the problem of adaptive vector subspace signal detection in partially homogeneous Gaussian disturbance and structured (unknown) deterministic interference within the framework of invariance theory. It is first proved that the Maximal Invariant Statistic (MIS) for the problem at hand is scalar-valued and coincides with the well-known adaptive normalized matched filter evaluated after data projection in the complementary subspace of the interfering signal. Second, the statistical characterization of the MIS under both hypotheses is derived. Then, it is shown the statistical equivalence of (two-step) generalized-likelihood ratio test, Rao and Wald tests, as well as the more recently considered Durbin and Gradient test, to the above statistic. Finally, simulation results are provided to confirm our findings and analyze the performance trend of the MIS with the relevant parameters.