Wavelet – RELAX feature extraction in radar images

L. Vignaud

Abstract: In classical high-frequency radar imaging, like synthetic aperture radar imaging, man-
made target contributions are often well described by decomposing their signature into a set of
bright points. The basic model supposes that these elementary reflectors are independent of the
relative angular aspect and of the observation frequencies. Many feature extraction methods, such
as CLEAN/RELAX-based algorithms, are built on this hypothesis and so it is currently used in
assisted/automatic target recognition algorithms (ATR). However, this simple model cannot
describe the variability of the signatures one can observe in image databanks. The authors propose
extending the target feature extraction capacities of the CLEAN/RELAX algorithm to dispersive
scatterers using generalised wavelets.

1 Introduction minimises the following nonlinear least squares criterion:

In classical radar imaging, the basic assumption lie in the ^ j2

ideal bright points model (or canonical peaks) of
elementary scatterers that compose the scene to be imaged;
the discrete data model is usually written as a set of
K complex sinusoids with ‘frequencies’ ðxk ; yk Þk ¼1;...; K and
amplitude Ak in noise e
X
K its complex contribution in its corresponding Fourier
HðKx ; Ky Þ ¼ Ak expf jðKx xk þ Ky yk Þg þ eðKx ; Ky Þ ð1Þ
k¼1
and the image Iðx; yÞ is then the 2-D spectrum of
the formatted data HðKx ; Ky Þ with Kx ¼ 4p f sin =c and
Ky ¼ 4p f cos =c; with frequency f in the radar bandwidth
Df and observation angle  within D: In synthetic aperture
measurements, the angle  is linked to the observation time
T through the relative motion of the target and the radar.
We note DT the integration time over which a coherent
image is formed.
Under this strong assumption, the extraction problem
matches the signal processing formulation of super-resol-
ution. We can make use of a signal model (complex
sinusoids) with autoregressive methods like Burg’s algor-
ithm or work on the signal autocorrelation (MUSIC,
PISARENKO, ESPRIT) to separate the elementary reflectors
with a better resolution than the Nyquist boundary (Fourier
resolution cell).
An extended analysis of the various spectral estimation
methods that can be used is given, from a signal processing
point of view in [1] and applied to SAR imaging in [2].
However, most of the methods require an a priori knowledge
or estimation of the number of reflectors, which deeply limits
their application to SAR imaging and feature extraction.
Unlike these, the RELAX algorithm [3, 4] is an
asymptotically statistically efficient estimator that
q IEE, 2003
IEE Proceedings online no. 20030763
doi: 10.1049/ip-rsn:20030763
Paper first received 18th December 2002 and in revised form 30th June
2003
The author is with Département ElectroMagnétisme et Radar, ONERA,
Chemin de la Hunière, 91761 Palaiseau Cédex, France
242
Cðxk ; yk ; Ak ; K Þk¼1;...; K ¼ jH  H ð2Þ
PK
with H ^ ¼ k¼1 Ak expf jðKx xk þ Ky yk Þg
One advantage is that the number of elementary sources
is estimated within the algorithm. RELAX belongs to a
family of iterative methods which, within each iteration,
search for the biggest peak in a complex image and subtract
spectrum. It extends the CLEAN algorithm [5] with a
relaxation step. (See [3, 4] for a more detailed description of
the algorithm and its implementation.)
Unfortunately, the ideal bright point model is valid only if
the measurement frequency bandwidth is narrow and the
angular sector is small (or the integration time is short).
Otherwise, phase shifting points, motion through resolution
cells and nonuniform blurring may occur, and the extraction
methods need to be adapted. We propose to extend the target
feature extraction capacities of the CLEAN/RELAX
algorithm to dispersive scatterers. We will implement a
long-term (or very wide angle) and large frequency
bandwidth coherent extraction using a wavelet-based
model of the scatterers behaviour in combination with the
RELAX architecture.
2 Wavelet CLEAN/RELAX
2.1 Introduction
Special modes commonly used in SAR imaging, such as
spotlight observation where the radar is continuously
steered to illuminate a small patch of terrain, need a very
large integration angle for which the dispersivity of the
scatterers cannot be ignored. Distortions appear in the image
when integration time is increased or when the image is
formed over a wider angular sector and/or a larger
frequency bandwidth. This is because of the dispersive
nature of real scatterers (anisotropy, unstationarity
and frequency dependency) that leads to phase shifts in
the ðKx ; Ky Þ space, and of the residual uncompensated
motion of the scene (due to the finite precision of relative
positioning systems or errors in autofocus) and residual
errors of the imaging algorithm. The angular dispersivity of
real scatterers can be clearly spotted by building successive
IEE Proc.-Radar Sonar Navig., Vol. 150, No. 4, August 2003

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGI MARA. Downloaded on December 29, 2009 at 16:27 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 $ rffiffiffiffiffiffi rffiffiffiffiffiffi %
looks of a SAR image (classical images computed for f l c lf 1
successive mean angle of observation). See Fig. 1. f ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ;  ¼ ; x  ; y  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Classical algorithms are then useless to solve the feature 4plf 4p 2f 4p f 4pl
extraction problem because real reflector behaviour does not ð5Þ
fit the classical model. The spectral analysis spotted in (1)
then depends on time (or angle) and frequency, and not only We see that this enables us to study the frequency and
on the position of the individual scatterers. Moreover, a angular dependencies of the reflectors while controlling the
coupled interaction of the 4-D variables ðx; y; f ; Þ occurs. coupling interaction between all the variables.
A strong property of the generalised wavelet decompo-
2.2 Generalised wavelet 4-D radar imaging sition is the ability to reconstruct the analysed back-
Evolution of classical radar imaging with a model of scattering function by coherently summing the wavelet
frequency-coloured and nonisotropic bright points has been coefficients over the entire ðx; y; f ; Þ space. It means that all
proposed using the concept of hyper-imaging (or 4-D the information included in the data Hð f ; Þ is entirely
imaging). The reader should refer to [6] and [7] to get a distributed in the wavelet decomposition
ZZ ZZ
deeper view of this subject.
Hðf ;Þ / Cðx;y; f 0 ;ÞF0 ð f =f 0 ; 0 Þ
The hyper-image Iðx; y; f ; Þ can be viewed as a
distribution of localised states with density built on the exp½4ipf 0 ðxcos 0 þysin 0 Þ=c dx dy df 0 d 0
wavelet transform of the backscattering coefficient Hð f ; Þ
ZZ ð6Þ
Cðx; y; f ; Þ ¼ Hð f 0 ;  0 ÞF
0 ð f 0 =f ;  0  Þ We can see (6) as the possibility to represent the radar data
0
Hðf ;Þ in an infinite base of wavelets representing the
ðx cos  0 þy sin  0 Þ=c
 e4ipf df 0 d 0 various behaviours of elementary dispersive scatterers.
Iðx; y; f ; Þ ¼ jCðx; y; f ; Þj2 ð3Þ
2.3 CLEAN/RELAX wavelet extension
with the mother wavelet F0 ð f ; Þ; which can be seen as the If we make the hypothesis that a backscattering function
backscattering function of an elementary dispersive scat- (or SAR data) of a man-made target is mainly composed
terer located at ðx ¼ 0 y ¼ 0Þ: The choice of the mother by the contributions of a set of individual dispersive
wavelet is restrained by admissibility rules (see [6] for more reflectors, we can have a second look at (6) and
details), but the wavelet function has to remain ‘concen- decompose any target backscattering function into the
trated’ on a spotted frequency and angle whatever frequency finite sum of elementary dispersive scatterers using the
scaling and angle rotation is applied to it. Here, for instance, combination of wavelets. This extends the classical
we can choose an admissible wavelet that separately problem formulation (1) to
controls the analysis spreading in frequency and angle via X
K
two parameters ðlf ; l Þ Hð f ; Þ ¼ Ak Fxk ;yk ;fk ;k ;lf ;l ð f ; Þ þ eð f ; Þ ð7Þ
k¼1
F0 ð f ; Þ ¼ f 2plf exp½2plf f ð4Þ
where Fxk ;yk ; fk ;k ;l f ;l represents the backscattering function
Resolutions are given by uncertainty relations of an elementary scatterer localised around the point ðxk ; yk Þ

Fig. 1 Successive SAR looks of a target showing scatterer dispersivity

IEE Proc.-Radar Sonar Navig., Vol. 150, No. 4, August 2003 243

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGI MARA. Downloaded on December 29, 2009 at 16:27 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
active around the fk frequency and the k angle with ðlf ; l Þ
controlling the spreading of the dispersivity in the ð f ; Þ
space (colouration and specular length)
Fxk ;yk ;fk ;k ;lf ;l ð f ;Þ ¼F0 ð f =fk ;  k Þ
 exp ½4ipfk ðxk cos k þ ysin Þ=c
loads.
The problem is quite complicated to solve because it is
highly nonlinear and multidimensional. The criterion we
choose to minimise is the following:
Cðxk ; yk ; fk ; k ; lf ; l ; Ak ; KÞk¼1;...;K ¼ jH  H^ j2
We then use a combination of the RELAX architecture with
standard optimisation procedures. A similar procedure has
already been used in [8] to discriminate trihedral from
dihedral reflectors.
The CLEAN/RELAX architecture remains essentially the
same except for the estimation step.
For each iteration k; we compute the following steps:
(i) We start with an automatic search for the strongest pixel
in the ðx; yÞ space of the classical image Iðx; yÞ: This gives
the first estimation of the reflector position ð^xk ; y^ k Þ:
Fig. 2 Results for reduced scale aircraft model
a Backscattering data domain of a reduced scale aircraft in an anechoic
chamber ðKx ¼ Kr sinðÞ; Ky ¼ Kr cosðÞÞ
b Reconstruction of the extracted spectra on the annular data domain and
extrapolation on the whole domain by the wavelet–RELAX algorithm
244
Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGI MARA. Downloaded on December 29, 2009 at 16:27 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
(ii) A local transformation (windowed around ð^xk ; y^ k ÞÞ to
ð f ; Þ; or simply to the Fourier space ðKx ; Ky Þ of the image,
gives an estimate ð f^k ; ^k Þ of its mean distribution in ð f ; Þ:
Note that a 2-D time – frequency analysis can be used for
this purpose, but this usually leads to heavy computation
ð8Þ (iii) The estimated parameters ð^xk ; y^ k ; f^k ; ^k Þ are used as
initial guess in the optimisation scheme. We use a standard
optimisation procedure (Matlab toolbox) of the criterion (9)
to obtain ðl^ f ; l^  Þ estimates and A^ k as a subproduct.
Parameters ð^xk ; y^ k ; f^k ; ^k Þ may be estimated once
ð9Þ again through an optional loop of the previous steps
knowing ðl^ f ; l^  Þ: This leads to a better robustness but
increases computation load by a lot.
(iv) After the optimisation converges, the estimated
contribution A^ k Fx^ k ;^yk ;f^k ;^k ;l^ f ;l^  ð f ; Þ is removed (cleaned)
from the data Hð f ; Þ and another iteration begins.
Of course, iterations are embedded in the usual relaxation
procedure. Each previously extracted reflector is estimated
once again each time another reflector is extracted in its
neighbourhood.
The application of wavelet –RELAX is given in Figs. 2
and 3 on a real dataset (anechoic chamber measurement on a
reduced scale aircraft model). Here the extraction is
conducted inside the annular region of measured data
(1 GHz frequency bandwidth over 3608). Of course, SAR
Fig. 3 Results for reduced scale aircraft model
a Classical Fourier image
b Super-resolved image obtained by extrapolation of the wavelet –RELAX
algorithm
IEE Proc.-Radar Sonar Navig., Vol. 150, No. 4, August 2003
data would only represent a portion of the 3608 illumination,
but the principles remain nevertheless the same.
The super-resolution capacities of the algorithm are
illustrated by extrapolating the extracted data outside the
measured dataset (Fig. 2b). It only means that the behaviour
of the extracted reflectors is extrapolated, in no way should
it be interpreted as the true extrapolation of the real
backscattering function of the target on a wider bandwidth
simply because no other scatterer is created and we cannot
predict what does not first exist!
The classical Fourier image and the wavelet –RELAX
extrapolated image are given in Fig. 3. Though a lot of work
must still be done to stabilise the extraction, the resolution
enhancement is quite impressive. Furthermore, we have a
fully parametric description of the target with a lot more
information on the frequency and angle dispersivity of each
point than the conventional image could give.
We present another example on real SAR data of a ground
target. Successive looks of the target were shown (Fig. 1) to
illustrate the angular anisotropy of real scatterers. If we
combine these looks together, either coherently (full
aperture image) or not (multilook image), we see that the
residual motion causes an unacceptable blur in both images
(see Fig. 4). We have then adapted the autofocusing strategy
proposed in [9] for the RELAX algorithm to our wavelet-
RELAX architecture. Figure 5 gives a well autofocused full
aperture image, which is a subproduct of our algorithm,
and the dispersive feature extraction for which we know
the precise orientation of each extracted scatterer (not
represented here).

Fig. 5 Full aperture image and dispersive feature extraction

a Full aperture image with autofocus
b Full aperture dispersive scatterers extraction (wavelet–RELAX)

3 Conclusions

The CLEAN/RELAX architecture is a valuable tool for

feature extraction in radar images as it can be extended
and adapted to use various models of the elementary
reflectors. We have presented a wavelet-based extension
that works on frequency directivity dispersive reflectors.
The wavelet model was derived from hyper-imaging
theory that extends classical radar imaging by adding a
joint frequency and angular analysis. We showed how
the wavelet – RELAX algorithm can be implemented with
standard optimisation procedures, and successfully
applied for feature extraction over very wide angles
and large-frequency bandwidths. The super-resolution and
autofocusing possibilities that derive from this algorithm
were also illustrated for real data.
We think that automatic target recognition procedures
should benefit from these improvements mainly because
they take into account the target aspect angle variability
problem while delivering richer information on the
individual parts of the target.

4 References
1 Marple, S.L.: ‘Digital spectral analysis with applications’ (Prentice,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA, 1987)
2 De Graaf, S.R.: ‘SAR imaging via modern 2D spectral estimation
methods’, IEEE Trans. Image Process., 1998, 7, (3), pp. 729– 761
3 Li, J., and Stoica, P.: ‘Efficient mixed-spectrum estimation with
Fig. 4 Multi-look image and full aperture image with residual applications to target feature extraction’, IEEE Trans. Signal Process.,
motion compensation errors 1996, 44, (2), pp. 281 –295

IEE Proc.-Radar Sonar Navig., Vol. 150, No. 4, August 2003 245

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGI MARA. Downloaded on December 29, 2009 at 16:27 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4 Li, J.: ‘Implementation of the RELAX algorithm’, IEEE Trans. Aerosp.
Electron. Syst., 1998, 24, (2), pp. 657– 664
5 Tsao, J., and Steinberg, B.D.: ‘Reduction of sidelobe and speckle
artifacts in microwave imaging: the CLEAN technique’, IEEE Trans.
Antennas Propag., 1988, 36, (4), pp. 543 –556
6 Bertrand, J., Bertrand, P., and Ovarlez, J.P.: ‘Dimensionalized wavelet
transform with application to radar imaging’. Proc. IEEE ICASSP-91,
1991
246
Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGI MARA. Downloaded on December 29, 2009 at 16:27 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
7 Ovarlez, J.P., Vignaud, L., Castelli, J., and Tria, M.: ‘Analysis of SAR
images by multidimensional wavelet transform’, IEE Proc., Radar Sonar
Navig., 2003, 150
8 Bi, Z., Li, J., and Liu, Z.-S.: ‘Super resolution SAR imaging via
parametric spectral estimation methods’, IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron.
Syst., 1999, 35, (1), pp. 267 –281
9 Zheng, Y., and Bao, Z.: ‘Autofocusing of SAR images based on
RELAX’. Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Radar 2000, May 2000
IEE Proc.-Radar Sonar Navig., Vol. 150, No. 4, August 2003