Multispectral Clutter Suppression Sensor for Detecting Dim Targets From Space

A major area of current interest in the field of clutter suppression for enhanced target detection is based on exploiting differences in the spectral content of the target and its background. J.B.S. proposes a scheme that reduces Earth background clutter and increases the target signal for high altitude targets viewed from space. The approach will be modeled using target spectral data from missile plumes and high flying aircraft. The most detailed Earth background spectral data available, based on measurements from the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) and the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) will be used to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed concept over standard spectral matched filter approaches.