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Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing
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Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing Image Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 89298

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrzej Stateczny

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Guest Editor
Department of Geodesy, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk Technical University, Narutowicza St. 11/12, Gdansk, Poland
Interests: radar navigation; comparative (terrain-based) navigation; multi-sensor data fusion; radar and sonar target tracking; sonar imaging and understanding; MBES bathymetry; ASV; artificial neural networks; geoinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Kulpa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Electronic Systems, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-665 Warszawa, Poland
Interests: DSP, RADAR, remote sensing
Dr. Witold Kazimierski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geoinformatics and Hydrography, Faculty of Navigation, Maritime University of Szczecin, 70-500 Szczecin, Poland
Interests: target tracking; data fusion; maritime radars; spatial analysis; artificial neural networks; mobile cartography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past years, radar and sonar technology has been at the center of several major developments in remote sensing both in civilian and defense applications. Although radar technology has been known for more than 100 years, it is still developing and it is now implemented in many maritime, air, satellite, and land applications. New technologies such as sparse image reconstruction and multistatic active and passive SAR and ISAR imaging are changing the quality of images and areas of applications. The rapid development of automotive radars in 3D dimensions, able to recognize different objects and assign the risk of collision, is one example of the progress of this technology. In maritime radars, the application of FMCW technology is becoming more and more popular, aside from classical pulse radars. Simultaneously, sonar technology has also been used for dozens of decades, at the beginning only for military solutions but, today, using 3D versions, it is used for many underwater tasks, such as underwater surface imaging, target detections, and tracking, among others. The impact of sonar technologies has been growing, particularly at the beginning of autonomous vehicles era. Recently, the influence of artificial intelligence for radar and sonar image processing and understanding has emerged. Radar and sonar systems are mounted onboard of smart and flexible platforms and also on several types of unmanned vehicles. Both of these technologies focus on remote detection of targets and both may encounter many common scientific challenges. Unfortunately, specialists from the radar and sonar fields do not interact with each other, slowing down progress in both areas.

This Special Issue will report the latest advances and trends in the field of remote sensing for radar and sonar image processing, addressing original developments, new applications, and practical solutions to open questions. The aim is to increase the data and knowledge exchange between those two communities and allow experts from other areas to understand the radar and sonar problems. Topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Passive and active radar imaging (SAR, ISAR)
  • Passive, bistatic, and multi-static radar imaging
  • 3D radar and 3D sonar imaging
  • Sonar image processing, data reduction, feature extraction, and image understanding
  • Interferometric methods
  • Sparse image reconstruction
  • Automatic target detection and classification
  • Radar sensors design and platform developments
  • Radar and sonar target tracking and anti-collision algorithms and methods
  • Multi-sensor data fusion
  • Synergy between radar, sonar, and other sensors
  • Radar and sonar base autonomous navigation
  • Ground Penetrating Radar application in civil engineering
  • Automotive and maritime radar
  • Radar and sonar surveillance systems
  • Side scan sonar, imaging sonar, chirp sonar, and forward-looking sonar
  • Artificial Intelligence for radar and sonar data processing
Prof. Dr. Andrzej Stateczny
Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Kulpa
Dr. Witold Kazimierski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • radar
  • sonar
  • data fusion
  • sensors design
  • target tracking
  • target imaging
  • image understanding and target recognition

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Editorial

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9 pages, 194 KiB  
Editorial
Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing
by Andrzej Stateczny, Witold Kazimierski and Krzysztof Kulpa
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(11), 1811; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12111811 - 03 Jun 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4098
Abstract
The 21 papers (from 61 submitted) published in the Special Issue “Radar and Sonar Imaging Processing” highlighted a variety of topics related to remote sensing with radar and sonar sensors. The sequence of articles included in the SI dealt with a broad profile [...] Read more.
The 21 papers (from 61 submitted) published in the Special Issue “Radar and Sonar Imaging Processing” highlighted a variety of topics related to remote sensing with radar and sonar sensors. The sequence of articles included in the SI dealt with a broad profile of aspects of the use of radar and sonar images in line with the latest scientific trends. The latest developments in science, including artificial intelligence, were used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

20 pages, 7335 KiB  
Article
A Parallax Shift Effect Correction Based on Cloud Height for Geostationary Satellites and Radar Observations
by Tomasz Bieliński
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(3), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030365 - 22 Jan 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5001
Abstract
The effect of cloud parallax shift occurs in satellite imaging, particularly for high angles of satellite observations. This study demonstrates new methods of parallax effect correction for clouds observed by geostationary satellites. The analytical method that could be found in literature, namely the [...] Read more.
The effect of cloud parallax shift occurs in satellite imaging, particularly for high angles of satellite observations. This study demonstrates new methods of parallax effect correction for clouds observed by geostationary satellites. The analytical method that could be found in literature, namely the Vicente et al./Koenig method, is presented at the beginning. It approximates a cloud position using an ellipsoid with semi-axes increased by the cloud height. The error values of this method reach up to 50 meters. The second method, which is proposed by the author, is an augmented version of the Vicente et al./Koenig approach. With this augmentation, the error can be reduced to centimeters. The third method, also proposed by the author, incorporates geodetic coordinates. It is described as a set of equations that are solved with the numerical method, and its error can be driven to near zero by adjusting the count of iterations. A sample numerical solution procedure with application of the Newton method is presented. Also, a simulation experiment that evaluates the proposed methods is described in the paper. The results of an experiment are described and contrasted with current technology. Currently, operating geostationary Earth Observation (EO) satellite resolutions vary from 0.5 km up to 8 km. The pixel sizes of these satellites are much greater than for maximal error of the least precise method presented in this paper. Therefore, the chosen method will be important when the resolution of geostationary EO satellites reaches 50 m. To validate the parallax correction, procedure data from on-ground radars and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, which describes stormy events, was compared before and after correction. Comparison was performed by correlating the logarithm of the cloud optical thickness (COT) with radar reflectance in dBZ (radar reflectance – Z in logarithmic form). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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20 pages, 8198 KiB  
Article
Optical Flow-Based Detection of Gas Leaks from Pipelines Using Multibeam Water Column Images
by Chao Xu, Mingxing Wu, Tian Zhou, Jianghui Li, Weidong Du, Wanyuan Zhang and Paul R. White
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(1), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010119 - 01 Jan 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4203
Abstract
In recent years, most multibeam echo sounders (MBESs) have been able to collect water column image (WCI) data while performing seabed topography measurements, providing effective data sources for gas-leakage detection. However, there can be systematic (e.g., sidelobe interference) or natural disturbances in the [...] Read more.
In recent years, most multibeam echo sounders (MBESs) have been able to collect water column image (WCI) data while performing seabed topography measurements, providing effective data sources for gas-leakage detection. However, there can be systematic (e.g., sidelobe interference) or natural disturbances in the images, which may introduce challenges for automatic detection of gas leaks. In this paper, we design two data-processing schemes to estimate motion velocities based on the Farneback optical flow principle according to types of WCIs, including time-angle and depth-across track images. Moreover, by combining the estimated motion velocities with the amplitudes of the image pixels, several decision thresholds are used to eliminate interferences, such as the seabed, non-gas backscatters in the water column, etc. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we simulated the scenarios of pipeline leakage in a pool and the Songhua Lake, Jilin Province, China, and used a HT300 PA MBES (it was developed by Harbin Engineering University and its operating frequency is 300 kHz) to collect acoustic data in static and dynamic conditions. The results show that the proposed method can automatically detect underwater leaking gases, and both data-processing schemes have similar detection performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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23 pages, 5555 KiB  
Article
Estimating Traffic Intensity Employing Passive Acoustic Radar and Enhanced Microwave Doppler Radar Sensor
by Andrzej Czyżewski, Józef Kotus and Grzegorz Szwoch
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(1), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010110 - 29 Dec 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4836
Abstract
Innovative road signs that can autonomously display the speed limit in cases where the traffic situation requires it are under development. The autonomous road sign contains many types of sensors, of which the subject of interest in this article is the Doppler sensor [...] Read more.
Innovative road signs that can autonomously display the speed limit in cases where the traffic situation requires it are under development. The autonomous road sign contains many types of sensors, of which the subject of interest in this article is the Doppler sensor that we have improved and the constructed and calibrated acoustic probe. An algorithm for performing vehicle detection and tracking, as well as vehicle speed measurement, in a signal acquired with a continuous wave Doppler sensor, is discussed. A method is also experimentally presented and studied for counting vehicles and for determining their movement direction by means of acoustic vector sensor application. The assumptions of the method employing spatial distribution of sound intensity determined with the help of an integrated three-dimensional (3D) sound intensity probe are discussed. The enhanced Doppler radar and the developed sound intensity probe were used for the experiments that are described and analyzed in the paper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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25 pages, 15143 KiB  
Article
A Large-Scene Deceptive Jamming Method for Space-Borne SAR Based on Time-Delay and Frequency-Shift with Template Segmentation
by Kaizhi Yang, Wei Ye, Fangfang Ma, Guojing Li and Qian Tong
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010053 - 21 Dec 2019
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4495
Abstract
Due to advantages such as its low power consumption and higher concealment, deceptive jamming against synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has received extensive attention during the past decades. However, large-scene deception jamming is still a challenge because of the huge computing burden. In this [...] Read more.
Due to advantages such as its low power consumption and higher concealment, deceptive jamming against synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has received extensive attention during the past decades. However, large-scene deception jamming is still a challenge because of the huge computing burden. In this paper, we propose a new large-scene deceptive jamming algorithm. First, the time-delay and frequency-shift (TDFS) algorithm is introduced to improve the jamming processing speed. The system function of jammer (JSF) for a fake scatter is simplified to the multiplication of the scattering coefficient, a time-delay term in the range dimension and a frequency-shift term in the azimuth dimension. Then, in order to solve the problem that the effective region of the TDFS algorithm is limited, the scene deceptive jamming template is divided into several blocks according to the SAR parameters and imaging quality control factor. The JSF of each block is calculated by the TDFS algorithm and added together to achieve the large-scene jamming. Finally, the correction algorithm in squint mode is derived. The simplification and parallel-block processing could improve the calculation efficiency significantly. The simulation results verified the validity of the algorithm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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21 pages, 6619 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Bottom Tracking Using Side Scan Sonar Data Through One-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks
by Jun Yan, Junxia Meng and Jianhu Zhao
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(1), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010037 - 20 Dec 2019
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4926
Abstract
As one of the most commonly used acoustic systems in seabed surveys, the altitude of the side scan sonar from the seafloor is always difficult to determine, especially when raw signal levels and gain information are unavailable. The inaccurate sonar altitudes would limit [...] Read more.
As one of the most commonly used acoustic systems in seabed surveys, the altitude of the side scan sonar from the seafloor is always difficult to determine, especially when raw signal levels and gain information are unavailable. The inaccurate sonar altitudes would limit the applications of sonar image geocoding, target detection, and sediment classification. The sonar altitude can be obtained by using bottom tracking methods, but traditional methods often require manual thresholds or complex post-processing procedures, which cannot ensure accurate and real-time bottom tracking. In this paper, a real-time bottom tracking method of side scan data is proposed based on a one-dimensional convolution neural network. First, according to the characteristics of side scan backscatter strength sequences, positive (bottom sequences) and negative (water column and seabed sequences) samples are extracted to establish the sample sets. Second, a one-dimensional convolution neural network is carefully designed and trained by using the sample set to recognize the bottom sequences. Third, a complete processing procedure of the real-time bottom tracking method is established by traversing each side scan ping data and recognizing the bottom sequences. The auxiliary methods for improving real-time performance and sample data augmentation are also explained in detail. The proposed method is implemented on the measured side scan data from the marine area in Meizhou Bay. The trained network model achieves a 100% recognition of the initial sample set as well as 100% bottom tracking accuracy of the training survey line. The average bottom tracking accuracy of the testing survey lines excluding missed pings reaches 99.2%. By comparison with multi-beam bathymetric data and the statistical analysis of real-time performance, the experimental results prove the validity and accuracy of the proposed real-time bottom tracking method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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18 pages, 3186 KiB  
Article
Aircraft Target Classification for Conventional Narrow-Band Radar with Multi-Wave Gates Sparse Echo Data
by Wantian Wang, Ziyue Tang, Yichang Chen, Yuanpeng Zhang and Yongjian Sun
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(22), 2700; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11222700 - 18 Nov 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2503
Abstract
For a conventional narrow-band radar system, the detectable information of the target is limited, and it is difficult for the radar to accurately identify the target type. In particular, the classification probability will further decrease when part of the echo data is missed. [...] Read more.
For a conventional narrow-band radar system, the detectable information of the target is limited, and it is difficult for the radar to accurately identify the target type. In particular, the classification probability will further decrease when part of the echo data is missed. By extracting the target features in time and frequency domains from multi-wave gates sparse echo data, this paper presents a classification algorithm in conventional narrow-band radar to identify three different types of aircraft target, i.e., helicopter, propeller and jet. Firstly, the classical sparse reconstruction algorithm is utilized to reconstruct the target frequency spectrum with single-wave gate sparse echo data. Then, the micro-Doppler effect caused by rotating parts of different targets is analyzed, and the micro-Doppler based features, such as amplitude deviation coefficient, time domain waveform entropy and frequency domain waveform entropy, are extracted from reconstructed echo data to identify targets. Thirdly, the target features extracted from multi-wave gates reconstructed echo data are weighted and fused to improve the accuracy of classification. Finally, the fused feature vectors are fed into a support vector machine (SVM) model for classification. By contrast with the conventional algorithm of aircraft target classification, the proposed algorithm can effectively process sparse echo data and achieve higher classification probability via weighted features fusion of multi-wave gates echo data. The experiments on synthetic data are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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28 pages, 16322 KiB  
Article
Image Formation of Azimuth Periodically Gapped SAR Raw Data with Complex Deconvolution
by Yulei Qian and Daiyin Zhu
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(22), 2698; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11222698 - 18 Nov 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2325
Abstract
The phenomenon of periodical gapping in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is induced in various ways, creates challenges in focusing raw SAR data. To handle this problem, a novel method is proposed in this paper. Complex deconvolution is utilized to restore the azimuth [...] Read more.
The phenomenon of periodical gapping in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is induced in various ways, creates challenges in focusing raw SAR data. To handle this problem, a novel method is proposed in this paper. Complex deconvolution is utilized to restore the azimuth spectrum of complete data from the gapped raw data in the proposed method. In other words, a new approach is provided by the proposed method to cope with periodically gapped raw SAR data via complex deconvolution. The proposed method provides a robust implementation of deconvolution for processing azimuth gapped raw data. The proposed method mainly consists of phase compensation and recovering the azimuth spectrum of raw data with complex deconvolution. The gapped data become sparser in the range of the Doppler domain after phase compensation. Then, it is feasible to recover the azimuth spectrum of the complete data from gapped raw data via complex deconvolution in the Doppler domain. Afterwards, the traditional SAR imaging algorithm is capable of focusing the reconstructed raw data in this paper. The effectiveness of the proposed method was validated via point target simulation and surface target simulation. Moreover, real SAR data were utilized to further demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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20 pages, 7518 KiB  
Article
A Method of Fast and Simultaneous Calibration of Many Mobile FMCW Radars Operating in a Network Anti-Drone System
by Aleksander Nowak, Krzysztof Naus and Dariusz Maksimiuk
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(22), 2617; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11222617 - 08 Nov 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3070
Abstract
A market for small drones is developing very fast. They are used for leisure activities and exploited in commercial applications. However, there is a growing concern for accidental or even criminal misuses of these platforms. Dangerous incidents with drones are appearing more often, [...] Read more.
A market for small drones is developing very fast. They are used for leisure activities and exploited in commercial applications. However, there is a growing concern for accidental or even criminal misuses of these platforms. Dangerous incidents with drones are appearing more often, and have caused many institutions to start thinking about anti-drone solutions. There are many cases when building stationary systems seems to be aimless since the high cost does not correspond with, for example, threat frequency. In such cases, mobile drone countermeasure systems seem to perfectly meet demands. In modern mobile solutions, frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars are frequently used as detectors. Proper cooperation of many radars demands their measurements to be brought to a common coordinate system—azimuths must be measured in the same direction (preferably the north). It requires calibration, understood as determining constant corrections to measured angles. The article presents the author’s method of fast, simultaneous calibration of many mobile FMCW radars operating in a network. It was validated using 95,000 numerical tests. The results show that the proposed method significantly improves the north orientation of the radars throughout the whole range of the initial errors. Therefore, it can be successfully used in practical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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18 pages, 14625 KiB  
Article
3D GPR Image-based UcNet for Enhancing Underground Cavity Detectability
by Man-Sung Kang, Namgyu Kim, Seok Been Im, Jong-Jae Lee and Yun-Kyu An
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(21), 2545; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11212545 - 29 Oct 2019
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6017
Abstract
This paper proposes a 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) image-based underground cavity detection network (UcNet) for preventing sinkholes in complex urban roads. UcNet is developed based on convolutional neural network (CNN) incorporated with phase analysis of super-resolution (SR) GPR images. CNNs have been [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) image-based underground cavity detection network (UcNet) for preventing sinkholes in complex urban roads. UcNet is developed based on convolutional neural network (CNN) incorporated with phase analysis of super-resolution (SR) GPR images. CNNs have been popularly used for automated GPR data classification, because expert-dependent data interpretation of massive GPR data obtained from urban roads is typically cumbersome and time consuming. However, the conventional CNNs often provide misclassification results due to similar GPR features automatically extracted from arbitrary underground objects such as cavities, manholes, gravels, subsoil backgrounds and so on. In particular, non-cavity features are often misclassified as real cavities, which degrades the CNNs’ performance and reliability. UcNet improves underground cavity detectability by generating SR GPR images of the cavities extracted from CNN and analyzing their phase information. The proposed UcNet is experimentally validated using in-situ GPR data collected from complex urban roads in Seoul, South Korea. The validation test results reveal that the underground cavity misclassification is remarkably decreased compared to the conventional CNN ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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23 pages, 7317 KiB  
Article
Methodology for Processing of 3D Multibeam Sonar Big Data for Comparative Navigation
by Andrzej Stateczny, Wioleta Błaszczak-Bąk, Anna Sobieraj-Żłobińska, Weronika Motyl and Marta Wisniewska
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(19), 2245; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192245 - 26 Sep 2019
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3318
Abstract
Autonomous navigation is an important task for unmanned vehicles operating both on the surface and underwater. A sophisticated solution for autonomous non-global navigational satellite system navigation is comparative (terrain reference) navigation. We present a method for fast processing of 3D multibeam sonar data [...] Read more.
Autonomous navigation is an important task for unmanned vehicles operating both on the surface and underwater. A sophisticated solution for autonomous non-global navigational satellite system navigation is comparative (terrain reference) navigation. We present a method for fast processing of 3D multibeam sonar data to make depth area comparable with depth areas from bathymetric electronic navigational charts as source maps during comparative navigation. Recording the bottom of a channel, river, or lake with a 3D multibeam sonar data produces a large number of measuring points. A big dataset from 3D multibeam sonar is reduced in steps in almost real time. Usually, the whole data set from the results of a multibeam echo sounder results are processed. In this work, new methodology for processing of 3D multibeam sonar big data is proposed. This new method is based on the stepwise processing of the dataset with 3D models and isoline maps generation. For faster products generation we used the optimum dataset method which has been modified for the purposes of bathymetric data processing. The approach enables detailed examination of the bottom of bodies of water and makes it possible to capture major changes. In addition, the method can detect objects on the bottom, which should be eliminated during the construction of the 3D model. We create and combine partial 3D models based on reduced sets to inspect the bottom of water reservoirs in detail. Analyses were conducted for original and reduced datasets. For both cases, 3D models were generated in variants with and without overlays between them. Tests show, that models generated from reduced dataset are more useful, due to the fact, that there are significant elements of the measured area that become much more visible, and they can be used in comparative navigation. In fragmentary processing of the data, the aspect of present or lack of the overlay between generated models did not relevantly influence the accuracy of its height, however, the time of models generation was shorter for variants without overlay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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29 pages, 11473 KiB  
Article
Efficient Algorithm for SAR Refocusing of Ground Fast-Maneuvering Targets
by Jun Wan, Yu Zhou, Linrang Zhang, Zhanye Chen and Hengli Yu
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(19), 2214; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192214 - 22 Sep 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2652
Abstract
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of moving targets will defocus due to the unknown motion parameters. For fast-maneuvering targets, the range cell migration (RCM), Doppler frequency migration and Doppler ambiguity are complex problems. As a result, focusing of fast-maneuvering targets is difficult. [...] Read more.
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of moving targets will defocus due to the unknown motion parameters. For fast-maneuvering targets, the range cell migration (RCM), Doppler frequency migration and Doppler ambiguity are complex problems. As a result, focusing of fast-maneuvering targets is difficult. In this work, an efficient SAR refocusing algorithm is proposed for fast-maneuvering targets. The proposed algorithm mainly contains three steps. Firstly, the RCM is corrected using sequence reversing, matrix complex multiplication and an improved second-order RCM correction function. Secondly, a 1D scaled Fourier transform is introduced to estimate the remaining chirp rate. Thirdly, a matched filter based on the estimated chirp rate is proposed to focus the maneuvering target in the range–azimuth time domain. The proposed method is computationally efficient because it can be implemented by the fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT and non-uniform FFT. A new deramp function is proposed to further address the serious problem of Doppler ambiguity. A spurious peak recognition procedure is proposed on the basis of the cross-term analysis. Simulated and real data processing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed target focusing algorithm and spurious peak recognition procedure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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24 pages, 6587 KiB  
Article
An Improved Generalized Chirp Scaling Algorithm Based on Lagrange Inversion Theorem for High-Resolution Low Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging
by Xing Chen, Tianzhu Yi, Feng He, Zhihua He and Zhen Dong
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(16), 1874; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11161874 - 10 Aug 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3363
Abstract
The high-resolution low frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has serious range-azimuth phase coupling due to the large bandwidth and long integration time. High-resolution SAR processing methods are necessary for focusing the raw data of such radar. The generalized chirp scaling algorithm (GCSA) is [...] Read more.
The high-resolution low frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has serious range-azimuth phase coupling due to the large bandwidth and long integration time. High-resolution SAR processing methods are necessary for focusing the raw data of such radar. The generalized chirp scaling algorithm (GCSA) is generally accepted as an attractive solution to focus SAR systems with low frequency, large bandwidth and wide beam bandwidth. However, as the bandwidth and/or beamwidth increase, the serious phase coupling limits the performance of the current GCSA and degrades the imaging quality. The degradation is mainly caused by two reasons: the residual high-order coupling phase and the non-negligible error introduced by the linear approximation of stationary phase point using the principle of stationary phase (POSP). According to the characteristics of a high-resolution low frequency SAR signal, this paper firstly presents a principle to determine the required order of range frequency. After compensating for the range-independent coupling phase above 3rd order, an improved GCSA based on Lagrange inversion theorem is analytically derived. The Lagrange inversion enables the high-order range-dependent coupling phase to be accurately compensated. Imaging results of P- and L-band SAR data demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed algorithm compared to the existing GCSA. The image quality and focusing depth in range dimension are greatly improved. The improved method provides the possibility to efficiently process high-resolution low frequency SAR data with wide swath. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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20 pages, 583 KiB  
Article
Analytical Approximation Model for Quadratic Phase Error Introduced by Orbit Determination Errors in Real-Time Spaceborne SAR Imaging
by Xiaoyu Yan, Jie Chen, Holger Nies and Otmar Loffeld
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(14), 1663; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11141663 - 12 Jul 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3006
Abstract
Research on real-time spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging has emerged as satellite computation capability has increased and applications of SAR imaging products have expanded. The orbit determination data of a spaceborne SAR platform are essential for the SAR imaging procedure. In real-time [...] Read more.
Research on real-time spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging has emerged as satellite computation capability has increased and applications of SAR imaging products have expanded. The orbit determination data of a spaceborne SAR platform are essential for the SAR imaging procedure. In real-time SAR imaging, onboard orbit determination data cannot achieve a level of accuracy that is equivalent to the orbit ephemeris in ground-based SAR processing, which requires a long processing time using common ground-based SAR imaging procedures. It is important to study the influence of errors in onboard real-time orbit determination data on SAR image quality. Instead of the widely used numerical simulation method, an analytical approximation model of the quadratic phase error (QPE) introduced by orbit determination errors is proposed. The proposed model can provide approximation results at two granularities: approximations with a satellite’s true anomaly as the independent variable and approximations for all positions in the satellite’s entire orbit. The proposed analytical approximation model reduces simulation complexity, extent of calculations, and the processing time. In addition, the model reveals the core of the process by which errors are transferred to QPE calculations. A detailed comparison between the proposed method and a numerical simulation method proves the correctness and reliability of the analytical approximation model. With the help of this analytical approximation model, the technical parameter iteration procedure during the early-stage development of an onboard real-time SAR imaging mission will likely be accelerated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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21 pages, 4251 KiB  
Article
Obtaining High-Resolution Seabed Topography and Surface Details by Co-Registration of Side-Scan Sonar and Multibeam Echo Sounder Images
by Xiaodong Shang, Jianhu Zhao and Hongmei Zhang
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(12), 1496; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11121496 - 24 Jun 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 6357
Abstract
Side-scan sonar (SSS) is used for obtaining high-resolution seabed images, but with low position accuracy without using the Ultra Short Base Line (USBL) or Short Base Line (SBL). Multibeam echo sounder (MBES), which can simultaneously obtain high-accuracy seabed topography as well as seabed [...] Read more.
Side-scan sonar (SSS) is used for obtaining high-resolution seabed images, but with low position accuracy without using the Ultra Short Base Line (USBL) or Short Base Line (SBL). Multibeam echo sounder (MBES), which can simultaneously obtain high-accuracy seabed topography as well as seabed images with low resolution in deep water. Based on the complementarity of SSS and MBES data, this paper proposes a new method for acquiring high-resolution seabed topography and surface details that are difficult to obtain using MBES or SSS alone. Firstly, according to the common seabed features presented in both images, the Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) algorithm, with the constraint of image geographic coordinates, is adopted for initial image matching. Secondly, to further improve the matching performance, a template matching strategy using the dense local self-similarity (DLSS) descriptor is adopted according to the self-similarities within these two images. Next, the random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm is used for removing the mismatches and the SSS backscatter image geographic coordinates are rectified by the transformation model established based on the correct matched points. Finally, the superimposition of this rectified SSS backscatter image on MBES seabed topography is performed and the high-resolution and high-accuracy seabed topography and surface details can be obtained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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20 pages, 16569 KiB  
Article
A Gray Scale Correction Method for Side-Scan Sonar Images Based on Retinex
by Xiufen Ye, Haibo Yang, Chuanlong Li, Yunpeng Jia and Peng Li
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(11), 1281; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11111281 - 29 May 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5004
Abstract
When side-scan sonars collect data, sonar energy attenuation, the residual of time varying gain, beam patterns, angular responses, and sonar altitude variations occur, which lead to an uneven gray level in side-scan sonar images. Therefore, gray scale correction is needed before further processing [...] Read more.
When side-scan sonars collect data, sonar energy attenuation, the residual of time varying gain, beam patterns, angular responses, and sonar altitude variations occur, which lead to an uneven gray level in side-scan sonar images. Therefore, gray scale correction is needed before further processing of side-scan sonar images. In this paper, we introduce the causes of gray distortion in side-scan sonar images and the commonly used optical and side-scan sonar gray scale correction methods. As existing methods cannot effectively correct distortion, we propose a simple, yet effective gray scale correction method for side-scan sonar images based on Retinex given the characteristics of side-scan sonar images. Firstly, we smooth the original image and add a constant as an illumination map. Then, we divide the original image by the illumination map to produce the reflection map. Finally, we perform element-wise multiplication between the reflection map and a constant coefficient to produce the final enhanced image. Two different schemes are used to implement our algorithm. For gray scale correction of side-scan sonar images, the proposed method is more effective than the latest similar methods based on the Retinex theory, and the proposed method is faster. Experiments prove the validity of the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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16 pages, 5070 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Translational Motion Parameters in Terahertz Interferometric Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (InISAR) Imaging Based on a Strong Scattering Centers Fusion Technique
by Ye Zhang, Qi Yang, Bin Deng, Yuliang Qin and Hongqiang Wang
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(10), 1221; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11101221 - 23 May 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2740
Abstract
Translational motion of a target will lead to image misregistration in interferometric inverse synthetic aperture radar (InISAR) imaging. In this paper, a strong scattering centers fusion (SSCF) technique is proposed to estimate translational motion parameters of a maneuvering target. Compared to past InISAR [...] Read more.
Translational motion of a target will lead to image misregistration in interferometric inverse synthetic aperture radar (InISAR) imaging. In this paper, a strong scattering centers fusion (SSCF) technique is proposed to estimate translational motion parameters of a maneuvering target. Compared to past InISAR image registration methods, the SSCF technique is advantageous in its high computing efficiency, excellent antinoise performance, high registration precision, and simple system structure. With a one-input three-output terahertz InISAR system, translational motion parameters in both the azimuth and height direction are precisely estimated. Firstly, the motion measurement curves are extracted from the spatial spectrums of mutually independent strong scattering centers, which avoids the unfavorable influences of noise and the “angle scintillation” phenomenon. Then, the translational motion parameters are obtained by fitting the motion measurement curves with phase unwrapping and intensity-weighted fusion processing. Finally, ISAR images are registered precisely by compensating the estimated translational motion parameters, and high-quality InISAR imaging results are achieved. Both simulation and experimental results are used to verify the validity of the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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18 pages, 4377 KiB  
Article
The Empirical Application of Automotive 3D Radar Sensor for Target Detection for an Autonomous Surface Vehicle’s Navigation
by Andrzej Stateczny, Witold Kazimierski, Daria Gronska-Sledz and Weronika Motyl
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(10), 1156; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11101156 - 14 May 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4935
Abstract
Avoiding collisions with other objects is one of the most basic safety tasks undertaken in the operation of floating vehicles. Addressing this challenge is essential, especially during unmanned vehicle navigation processes in autonomous missions. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the surface [...] Read more.
Avoiding collisions with other objects is one of the most basic safety tasks undertaken in the operation of floating vehicles. Addressing this challenge is essential, especially during unmanned vehicle navigation processes in autonomous missions. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the surface target detection possibilities in a water environment, which can be used for the future development of tracking and anti-collision systems for autonomous surface vehicles (ASV). The research focuses on identifying the detection ranges and the field of view for various surface targets. Typical objects that could be met in the water environment were analyzed, including a boat and floating objects. This study describes the challenges of implementing automotive radar sensors for anti-collision tasks in a water environment from the perspective of target detection with the application for small ASV performing tasks on the lake. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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18 pages, 8641 KiB  
Article
On the Reliability of Surface Current Measurements by X-Band Marine Radar
by Katrin G. Hessner, Saad El Naggar, Wilken-Jon von Appen and Volker H. Strass
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(9), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091030 - 30 Apr 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3402
Abstract
Real-time quality-controlled surface current data derived from X-Band marine radar (MR) measurements were evaluated to estimate their operational reliability. The presented data were acquired by the standard commercial off-the-shelf MR-based sigma s6 WaMoS® II (WaMoS® II) deployed onboard the [...] Read more.
Real-time quality-controlled surface current data derived from X-Band marine radar (MR) measurements were evaluated to estimate their operational reliability. The presented data were acquired by the standard commercial off-the-shelf MR-based sigma s6 WaMoS® II (WaMoS® II) deployed onboard the German Research vessel Polarstern. The measurement reliability is specified by an IQ value obtained by the WaMoS® II real-time quality control (rtQC). Data which pass the rtQC without objection are assumed to be reliable. For these data sets accuracy and correlation with corresponding vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements are determined. To reduce potential misinterpretation due to short-term oceanic variability/turbulences, the evaluation of the WaMoS® II accuracy was carried out based on sliding means over 20 min of the reliable data only. The associated standard deviation σ W a M o S = 0.02 m/s of the mean WaMoS® II measurements reflect a high precision of the measurement and the successful rtQC during different wave, current and weather conditions. The direct comparison of 7272 WaMoS® II/ADCP northward and eastward velocity data pairs yield a correlation of r   ≥ 0.94 , with | b i a s Δ |   ≤ 0.06 m/s and σ S = 0.05 m/s. This confirms that the MR-based surface current measurements are accurate and reliable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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22 pages, 9116 KiB  
Article
An Imaging Algorithm for Multireceiver Synthetic Aperture Sonar
by Xuebo Zhang, Cheng Tan and Wenwei Ying
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(6), 672; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11060672 - 20 Mar 2019
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3369
Abstract
For the multireceiver synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), the point target reference spectrum (PTRS) in the two-dimensional (2D) frequency domain and azimuth modulation in the range Doppler domain were first deduced based on a numerical evaluation method and accurate time delay. Then, the difference [...] Read more.
For the multireceiver synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), the point target reference spectrum (PTRS) in the two-dimensional (2D) frequency domain and azimuth modulation in the range Doppler domain were first deduced based on a numerical evaluation method and accurate time delay. Then, the difference between the PTRS and azimuth modulation generated the coupling term in the 2D frequency domain. Compared with traditional methods, the PTRS, azimuth modulation and coupling term was better at avoiding approximations. Based on three functions, an imaging algorithm is presented in this paper. Considering the fact that the coupling term is characterized by range variance, the range-dependent sub-block processing method was exploited to perform the decoupling. Simulation results showed that the presented method improved the imaging performance across the whole swath in comparison with existing multireceiver SAS processor. Furthermore, real data was used to validate the presented method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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21 pages, 4612 KiB  
Article
An Adaptive Denoising and Detection Approach for Underwater Sonar Image
by Xingmei Wang, Qiming Li, Jingwei Yin, Xiao Han and Wenqian Hao
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(4), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11040396 - 15 Feb 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3415
Abstract
An adaptive approach is proposed to denoise and detect the underwater sonar image in this paper. Firstly, to improve the denoising performance of non-local spatial information in the underwater sonar image, an adaptive non-local spatial information denoising method based on the golden ratio [...] Read more.
An adaptive approach is proposed to denoise and detect the underwater sonar image in this paper. Firstly, to improve the denoising performance of non-local spatial information in the underwater sonar image, an adaptive non-local spatial information denoising method based on the golden ratio is proposed. Then, a new adaptive cultural algorithm (NACA) is proposed to accurately and quickly complete the underwater sonar image detection in this paper. Concretely, NACA has two improvements. In the first place, to obtain better initial clustering centres, an adaptive initialization algorithm based on data field (AIA-DF) is proposed in this paper. Secondly, in the belief space of NACA, a new update strategy is adopted to update cultural individuals in terms of the quantum-inspired shuffled frog leaping algorithm (QSFLA). The experimental results show that the proposed denoising method in this paper can effectively remove relatively large and small filtering degree parameters and improve the denoising performance to some extent. Compared with other comparison algorithms, the proposed NACA can converge to the global optimal solution within small epochs and accurately complete the object detection, having better effectiveness and adaptability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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15 pages, 3526 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Computational Intelligence Methods Based on Fuzzy Sets and Game Theory in the Synthesis of Safe Ship Control Based on Information from a Radar ARPA System
by Józef Lisowski and Mostefa Mohamed-Seghir
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(1), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11010082 - 04 Jan 2019
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4102
Abstract
This article presents safe ship control optimization design for navigator advisory system. Optimal safe ship control is presented as multistage decision-making in a fuzzy environment and as multistep decision-making in a game environment. The navigator’s subjective and the maneuvering parameters are taken under [...] Read more.
This article presents safe ship control optimization design for navigator advisory system. Optimal safe ship control is presented as multistage decision-making in a fuzzy environment and as multistep decision-making in a game environment. The navigator’s subjective and the maneuvering parameters are taken under consideration in the model process. A computer simulation of fuzzy neural anticollision (FNAC) and matrix game anticollision (MGAC) algorithms was carried out on MATLAB software on an example of the real navigational situation of passing three encountered ships in the Skagerrak Strait, in good and restricted visibility at sea. The developed solution can be applied in decision-support systems on board a ship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar and Sonar Imaging and Processing)
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