Adaptive Matching of the Radar Signal and Image Display Device Dynamic Ranges

Abstract

This article presents nonlinear radar signal processing method to form an image of the Earth's surface. The method proposes to match the dynamic ranges of the received signal and of the visualization device. The essence of the method is adaptive nonlinear signal processing, which provides better local contrast of radar images and improves discrimination of individual objects. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm is optimized and allows real-time implementation in the airborne computing systems with limited computational power. Objects with large RCS merged into large illuminated "spots"; their visibility on the surrounding background has been reduced, unwanted effects are due to the fact that the above algorithms have a single point effect. To overcome the problems, the «Retinex» algorithm is usually used. They do not take into account the local neighborhood of pixels; therefore, in cases where the image contains both highly dark and strongly light local areas, these algorithms cannot provide high-quality matching of dynamic ranges.

Keywords

• Radar signal
• Radar cross-section
• Digital image processing
• Nonlinear processing
• Adaptive contrasting