High resolution SAR ATR performance analysis

High resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery (e.g., four inch or better resolution) contains features not seen in one foot or lower resolution imagery, due to the isolation of the scatterers into separate resolution cells. These features provide the potential for additional discrimination power for Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) systems. In this paper, we analyze the performance of the Real-Time MSTAR (RT-MSTAR) system as a function of image resolution. Performance is measured both in terms of the probability of correct identification on military targets, and also in terms of confuser rejection. The analysis demonstrates two factors that significantly enhance performance. First, use of the high resolution imagery results in much higher probability of correct identification, as demonstrated using Lynx SAR imagery at 4" and 12". Second, incorporating models of the confusers, when available, greatly reduces false alarms, even at higher resolutions. Several new areas of work emerge, including making use of higher-level feature information available in the imagery, and rapid creation of models for vehicles that pose particular confuser rejection challenges.