A HELICAL BACKSCATTER MODEL FOR THE EXTRACTION OF POWER LINES FROM POLARIMETRIC SAR IMAGER

THERE ARE TWO MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH EFFORT. THE FIRST AND OVERALL GOAL IS TO DESIGN A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND TEST A SYSTEM WHICH WILL PROVIDE RELIABLE, EFFECTIVE, AND AUTOMATED REMOTE MAPPING OF POWER LINES FOR TACTICAL MISSION PLANNING. THE SECOND GOAL IS TO FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AIRBORNE SYSTEMS FOR AIRPLANES AND HELICOPTERS TO ALLOW REAL-TIME IDENTIFICATION OF POWER LINES FOR COLLISION AVOIDANCE. THESE TWO GOALS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A NEW, HELICAL GEOMETRY FOR MODELING THE RADAR BACKSCATTER FROM POWER LINES. BY UTILIZING POLARIMETRIC SYNTHESIS, THE RADAR SIGNATURE OF THE CABLE CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED WITH RESPECT TO ITS BACKGROUND. EXISTING DATASET APPROPRIATE FOR TESTING THE NEW WIRE EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE WILL BE IDENTIFIED. IN PHASE II, A SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING THE EXTRACTION WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. THE WIRE LOCATION INFORMATION WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE INTEGRATED WITH COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS DURING PHASE III. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - POWER LINE COLLISION AVOIDANCE, REMOTE MAPPING OF POWER LINES, IMPROVED SAR DESIGN. KEY WORDS - POLARIMETRY, TRANSMISSION WIRE, SAR, POLARIZATION SYNTHESIS, BACKSCATTER MODEL, RADAR IMAGERY, POWER LINE.