Probability distributions of polarimetric target and clutter data for search and rescue

In this paper we empirically examine the probability of detection (P-D) and false alarm rate (FAR) for crash site detection using polarimetry to discriminate between aircraft target signatures within natural clutter. To date, the search and rescue program has tried several automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms from the literature. While P-D seems reasonable with these algorithms, the FAR is too high (similar to 10's per square kilometer). The objective of our analysis is to determine if this is a limitation of the ATR algorithms tried, or if this is the best that can be hoped for given the polarimetric statistics of the target and clutter.