Analysis of ship size detectability over different TerraSAR-X modes

A growing interest in global maritime surveillance has motivated the development of new methods and sensors to overcome the limitations of coastal-based systems coverage. Among the available state of the art tools, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) stands out as a powerful sensor for oceanographic observation and maritime surveillance, due to its capability of wide swath coverage and the ability to operate in all weather conditions. This paper examines the minimum ship size detectable by the Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) algorithm over different TerraSAR-X product modes, using simulation-based analyses. These analyses allow a comparison of the expected CFAR ship detection performance for different TerraSAR-X products, over different sea state conditions.