IPIX radar small target detection in sea clutter based on local backscattering amplitude statistics

A new method for small target detection in sea clutter is proposed. This approach builds on the local backscattering amplitude statistics of IPIX radar datasets: calculating the maxima and standard deviation (STD) of backscattering amplitude of different range bins. It is found that the maximum amplitude of the range bin hosting a small target (RBHST) is much smaller than that of other range bins hosting only sea clutter (ORBHSC) especially for the HH polarization datasets, the STD of RBHST is obviously larger than that of ORBHSC, upon this point, the small target within sea clutter can be detected accurately with no prior knowledge of ocean conditions.