RADAR IMAGE-PROCESSING FOR SHIP-TRAFFIC CONTROL

An automatic target recognition (ATR) system performs automatic target acquisition, identification and tracking by processing a sequence of complex images. Since radar systems can produce high-resolution images during day or night and for all weather conditions, sequences of rada r images can be used by an efficient ATR system for sea traffic contro l. In this paper, a system for the automatic control of ship-traffic i n the access area of a sea-port is presented. The system employs digit al processing techniques applied to sequences of X-band real-aperture radar images. Problems due to target signature variability, aspect-ang le dependence and noise are taken into account. Some new algorithms fo r the detection of drift-angles have been conceived and realized. They provide useful information for automatic collision avoidance systems.