Abstract: To solve the problem that the original image of the ocean is inconsistent with the data structure of the low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition model, this paper proposes a new ship detection method of the SAR images about ocean based on matrix decomposition. Firstly, the method needs to reconstruct the SAR images about ocean with similar structure. Then a new matrix decomposition model with higher resolution and faster decomposition speed, which is solved by the augmented Lagrange multiplier method, is designed according to the properties of recombination matrix, and the sparse components of the ship target are extracted without any clutter model and detection statistics. Finally, the morphological operation is used to realize the ship target detection in the SAR images about ocean. The experimental results based on the real data from Gaofen-3 SAR satellite show that compared with the existing ship detection methods based on robust principal component analysis, the proposed method can extract the ship target accurately from the sea clutter with better shape and faster speed, and has better robustness in dealing with complex sea conditions.

Key words: matrix decomposition, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), ship target detection