Search Results (10)

This study addresses the modeling and simulation challenges of urban laser countermeasure systems against Low-Slow-Small (LSS) UAVs by proposing a physics simulation framework integrating Geographic Information System (GIS)-based dynamic 3D real-world scenes and constructing a hybrid Anti-UAV dataset combining real and simulated data. A three-stage target tracking system is developed, encompassing target acquisition, coarse tracking, and precise tracking. Furthermore, the UAV-D-Fine detection algorithm is introduced, significantly improving small-target detection accuracy and efficiency. The simulation platform achieves dynamic fusion between target models and GIS real-scene models, enabling a full physical simulation of UAV takeoff, tracking, aiming, and laser engagement, with additional validation of laser antenna tracking performance. Experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm in both simulated and real-world environments, ensuring accurate UAV detection and sustained tracking, thereby providing robust support for low-altitude UAV laser countermeasure missions. Full article

Non-cooperative targets, such as birds and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are typical low-altitude, slow, and small (LSS) targets with low observability. Radar observations in such scenarios are often complicated by strong motion clutter originating from sources like airplanes and cars. Hence, distinguishing between birds and UAVs in environments with strong motion clutter is crucial for improving target monitoring performance and ensuring flight safety. To address the impact of strong motion clutter on discriminating between UAVs and birds, we propose a frequency correlation dual-SVD (singular value decomposition) reconstruction method. This method exploits the strong power and spectral correlation characteristics of motion clutter, contrasted with the weak scattering characteristics of bird and UAV targets, to effectively suppress clutter. Unlike traditional clutter suppression methods based on SVD, our method avoids residual clutter or target loss while preserving the micro-motion characteristics of the targets. Based on the distinct micro-motion characteristics of birds and UAVs, we extract two key features: the sum of normalized large eigenvalues of the target’s micro-motion component and the energy entropy of the time–frequency spectrum of the radar echoes. Subsequently, the kernel fuzzy c-means algorithm is applied to classify bird and UAV targets. The effectiveness of our proposed method is validated through results using both simulation and experimental data. Full article

In the realm of short-range radar applications, the focus on detecting “low, slow, and small” (LSS) targets has escalated, marking a pivotal aspect of critical area defense. This study pioneers the use of one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNNs) for direct slow-time dimension radar feature extraction, sidestepping the complexity tied to frequency and wavelet domain transformations. It innovatively employs a network architecture enriched with multi-frequency multi-scale deformable convolution (MFMSDC) layers for nuanced feature extraction, integrates attention modules to foster comprehensive feature connectivity, and leverages linear operations to curtail overfitting. Through comparative evaluations and ablation studies, our methodology not only simplifies the analytic process but also demonstrates superior classification capabilities. This establishes a new benchmark for efficiently classifying low-altitude entities, such as birds and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), thereby enhancing the precision and operational efficiency of radar detection systems. Full article

Multi-rotor aircraft have the advantages of a simple structure, low cost, and flexible operation in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) family, and have developed rapidly in recent years. Radar surveillance and classification of the growing number of multi-rotor aircraft has become a challenging problem due to their low-slow-small (LSS) characteristics. Estimation of the blade number is an important step in distinguishing LSS targets. However, most of the current research on micro-motion parameters estimation has focused on the analysis of rotational frequency, length, and the initial phase of blades with a prior of blade number, affecting its ability to identify LSS targets. In this article, a micro-motion parameters estimation method for multi-rotor targets without a prior is proposed. On the basis of estimating the flashing frequency of the blades, a validation function is constructed through spectral analysis to judge the number of blades, and then the rotational frequency is estimated. The blade length is calculated by estimating the maximum Doppler shift. Moreover, the variational mode decomposition (VMD)-based atomic scaling orthogonal matching pursuit (AS-OMP) method is jointly applied to estimate the blade length when suffering from the low PRF and insufficient SNR conditions. Extensive experiments on the simulated and measured data demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms robust micro-motion parameter estimation capability in low PRF and insufficient SNR conditions compared to the traditional time-frequency analysis methods. Full article

Individual structural parameters of trees, such as forest stand tree height and biomass, serve as the foundation for monitoring of dynamic changes in forest resources. Individual tree structural parameters are closely related to individual tree crown segmentation. Although three-dimensional (3D) data have been successfully used to determine individual tree crown segmentation, this phenomenon is influenced by various factors, such as the (i) source of 3D data, (ii) the segmentation algorithm, and (iii) the tree species. To further quantify the effect of various factors on individual tree crown segmentation, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and image-derived points were obtained by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Three different segmentation algorithms (PointNet++, Li2012, and layer-stacking segmentation (LSS)) were used to segment individual tree crowns for four different tree species. The results show that for two 3D data, the crown segmentation accuracy of LiDAR data was generally better than that obtained using image-derived 3D data, with a maximum difference of 0.13 in F values. For the three segmentation algorithms, the individual tree crown segmentation accuracy of the PointNet++ algorithm was the best, with an F value of 0.91, whereas the result of the LSS algorithm yields the worst result, with an F value of 0.86. Among the four tested tree species, the individual tree crown segmentation of Liriodendron chinense was the best, followed by Magnolia grandiflora and Osmanthus fragrans, whereas the individual tree crown segmentation of Ficus microcarpa was the worst. Similar crown segmentation of individual Liriodendron chinense and Magnolia grandiflora trees was observed based on LiDAR data and image-derived 3D data. The crown segmentation of individual Osmanthus fragrans and Ficus microcarpa trees was superior according to LiDAR data to that determined according to image-derived 3D data. These results demonstrate that the source of 3D data, the segmentation algorithm, and the tree species all have an impact on the crown segmentation of individual trees. The effect of the tree species is the greatest, followed by the segmentation algorithm, and the effect of the 3D data source. Consequently, in future research on individual tree crown segmentation, 3D data acquisition methods should be selected based on the tree species, and deep learning segmentation algorithms should be adopted to improve the crown segmentation of individual trees. Full article

Nowadays, unmanned aerial vehicles/drones are involved in a continuously growing number of security incidents. Therefore, the research interest in drone versus human movement detection and characterization is justified by the fact that such devices represent a potential threat for indoor/office intrusion, while normally, a human presence is allowed after passing several security points. Our paper comparatively characterizes the movement of a drone and a human in an indoor environment. The movement map was obtained using advanced signal processing methods such as wavelet transform and the phase diagram concept, and applied to the signal acquired from UWB sensors. Full article

Accurate individual tree segmentation (ITS) is fundamental to forest management and to the studies of forest ecosystem. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Light Detection and Ranging (UAV-LiDAR) shows advantages for ITS and tree height estimation at stand and landscape scale. However, dense deciduous forests with tightly interlocked tree crowns challenge the performance for ITS. Available LiDAR points through tree crown and appropriate algorithm are expected to attack the problem. In this study, a new UAV-LiDAR dataset that fused leaf-off and leaf-on point cloud (FULD) was introduced to assess the synergetic benefits for ITS and tree height estimation by comparing different types of segmentation algorithms (i.e., watershed segmentation, point cloud segmentation and layer stacking segmentation) in the dense deciduous forests of Northeast China. Field validation was conducted in the four typical stands, including mixed broadleaved forest (MBF), Mongolian oak forest (MOF), mixed broadleaf-conifer forest (MBCF) and larch plantation forest (LPF). The results showed that the combination of FULD and the layer stacking segmentation (LSS) algorithm produced the highest accuracies across all forest types (F-score: 0.70 to 0.85). The FULD also showed a better performance on tree height estimation, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.54 m at individual level. Compared with using the leaf-on dataset solely, the RMSE of tree height estimation was reduced by 0.22 to 0.27 m, and 12.3% more trees were correctly segmented by the FULD, which are mainly contributed by improved detection rate at nearly all DBH levels and by improved detection accuracy at low DBH levels. The improvements are attributed to abundant points from the bole to the treetop of FULD, as well as each layer point being included for segmentation by LSS algorithm. These findings provide useful insights to guide the application of FULD when more multi-temporal LiDAR data are available in future. Full article

With the upsurge in the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in various fields, detecting and identifying them in real-time are becoming important topics. However, the identification of UAVs is difficult due to their characteristics such as low altitude, slow speed, and small radar cross-section (LSS). With the existing deterministic approach, the algorithm becomes complex and requires a large number of computations, making it unsuitable for real-time systems. Hence, effective alternatives enabling real-time identification of these new threats are needed. Deep learning-based classification models learn features from data by themselves and have shown outstanding performance in computer vision tasks. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based classification model that learns the micro-Doppler signatures (MDS) of targets represented on radar spectrogram images. To enable this, first, we recorded five LSS targets (three types of UAVs and two different types of human activities) with a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar in various scenarios. Then, we converted signals into spectrograms in the form of images by Short time Fourier transform (STFT). After the data refinement and augmentation, we made our own radar spectrogram dataset. Secondly, we analyzed characteristics of the radar spectrogram dataset with the ResNet-18 model and designed the ResNet-SP model with less computation, higher accuracy and stability based on the ResNet-18 model. The results show that the proposed ResNet-SP has a training time of 242 s and an accuracy of 83.39%, which is superior to the ResNet-18 that takes 640 s for training with an accuracy of 79.88%. Full article

In the last years, the commercial drone/unmanned aerial vehicles market has grown due to their technological performances (provided by the multiple onboard available sensors), low price, and ease of use. Being very attractive for an increasing number of applications, their presence represents a major issue for public or classified areas with a special status, because of the rising number of incidents. Our paper proposes a new approach for the drone movement detection and characterization based on the ultra-wide band (UWB) sensing system and advanced signal processing methods. This approach characterizes the movement of the drone using classical methods such as correlation, envelope detection, time-scale analysis, but also a new method, the recurrence plot analysis. The obtained results are compared in terms of movement map accuracy and required computation time in order to offer a future starting point for the drone intrusion detection. Full article

Low altitude, small radar cross-section (RCS), and slow speed (LSS) targets, for example small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have become increasingly significant. In this paper, we propose a new automatic target recognition (ATR) system and a complete ATR chain based on multi-dimensional features and multi-layer classifier system using L-band holographic staring radar. We consider all steps of the processing required to make a classification decision out of the raw radar data, mainly including preprocessing for the raw measured Doppler data including regularization and main frequency alignment, selection, and extraction of effective features in three dimensions of RCS, micro-Doppler, and motion, and multi-layer classifier system design. We design creatively a multi-layer classifier system based on directed acyclic graph. Helicopters, small fixed-wing, and rotary-wing UAVs, as well as birds are considered for classification, and the measured data collected by L-band radar demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed complete ATR classification system. The results show that the ATR classification system based on multi-dimensional features and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifier is the best, compared with support vector machine (SVM) and back propagation (BP) neural networks, providing the capability of correct classification with a probability of around 97.62%. Full article