DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED METHODS OF EXTRACTING POWER LINES FROM DIGITAL SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR ...

THIS PROPOSAL INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR AUTOMATED PROCESSING OF SNYTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SAR) IMAGERY. SPECIFICALLY, THIS TASK INVOLVES FINDING ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC) POWER LINES AND RELATED STRUCTURES FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION AIRBORNE SAR (ASAR) IMAGES. WE WILL IDENTIFY AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND DEVELOP NEW TECHNIQUES AS NECESSARY TO STRENGTHEN WEAK AREAS. WE WILL ESTABLISH A METHODOLOGY AND AN APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THIS EFFORT WILL LEAD TO A FAST, RELIABLE METHOD OF SCREENING AND EXPLOITING POWER LINES ON SAR IMAGERY. THIS, IN TURN, WILL CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVED INTELLIGENCE AND OVERALL SUCCESS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. KEY WORDS - SAR, IMAGE PROCESSING, TARGET DETECTION, CHANGE DETECTION, SITUATION MONITORING