Sequential processing of SAR phase history data for rapid detection

We apply a Wald sequential hypothesis test to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) phase history data. A 2D autoregressive (AR) signal model is applied to the SAR phase history data to exploit the signatures produced by cultural objects. We model the sequential probability ratio decision statistic as a Brownian motion process with drift. The test can then be simply approximated as a test for the drift in the Brownian motion process. We show that the required aperture extent (number of pulses) to determine the presence of a target within the scene is significantly smaller than the full aperture