Results from the Crusade ship detection trial : polarimetric SAR

An experiment was conducted in March 2000 offshore of the Newfoundland, Canada coastline which involved several radar data sets. The objective of the experiment was to assess ship detection capabilities for several radar systems. In particular, image data were collected from RADARSAT, the polarimetric C/X SAR and the High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) at Cape Race, Newfoundland. These data were acquired over a period of ten days while three staged ships remained on site at specified positions. These types of experiments are very rare and hence the results from this experiment will be invaluable for validating ship detection techniques and providing direction for future research and experiments. HH and HV polarizations were found to be optimal for wide area ship detection applications. A moment method and polarimetric decomposition methods provided high ship detection rates. Polarimetric target decomposition results indicate potential capability for recognizing targets and reducing false alarm rates.