A Multi-Dimensional Hough Transform-Based Track-Before-Detect Technique for Detecting Weak Targets in Strong Clutter Backgrounds

Author

Moyer, Lee R. ; Spak, Jeffrey ; Lamanna, Peter

Author_Institution

Technol. Service Corp., Fairfax, VA, USA

Volume

47

Issue

4

fYear

2011

fDate

10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3062

Lastpage

3068

Abstract

The Hough transform (HT) algorithm detects straight-line features in two-dimensional data. This correspondence extends the HT to N-dimensional data to efficiently combine multiple first-threshold crossings from moving targets. The data dimensions can be the target position, its range and range-rate, and/or the first-threshold crossing times. This multi-dimensional HT (MHT) technique can be applied to enhance the detection of targets in random clutter backgrounds through the application of track-before-detect (TBD) processing.

Keywords

Hough transforms; feature extraction; multidimensional signal processing; object detection; radar clutter; radar detection; moving targets; multidimensional HT technique; multidimensional Hough transform-based track-before-detect technique; multiple first-threshold crossing; random clutter backgrounds; straight-line feature detection; target position; two-dimensional data; weak target detection; Clutter; Radar cross section; Radar tracking; Target tracking; Trajectory; Uncertainty;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9251

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAES.2011.6034689

Filename

6034689