Cross-section estimation by simulated annealing

Presents an algorithm which performs radar cross-section estimation by using techniques based on simulated annealing. Standard simulated annealing approaches to image restoration attempt to categorise each image element as belonging to one of a small number of predefined image states or values. This is restrictive for tasks such as radar cross-section estimation and the authors present an algorithm which is capable of producing a real-valued output. This is achieved by introducing an edge detection stage into the simulated annealing process. The action of the annealing algorithm may be viewed as a filter which adapts to local image structure. The authors present results which demonstrate this behaviour and in so doing allow them to estimate the residual noise levels that might be expected