SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks

Abstract Radar sensing offers a method of achieving 24‐h all‐weather drone surveillance, but in order to be maximally effective, systems need to be able to discriminate between birds and drones. This work examines drone‐bird classification performance as a function of signal to noise ratio (SNR). Cl...

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Main Authors: Holly Dale, Chris Baker, Michail Antoniou, Mohammed Jahangir, George Atkinson, Stephen Harman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1049/rsn2.12161
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author Holly Dale
Chris Baker
Michail Antoniou
Mohammed Jahangir
George Atkinson
Stephen Harman
author_facet Holly Dale
Chris Baker
Michail Antoniou
Mohammed Jahangir
George Atkinson
Stephen Harman
author_sort Holly Dale
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Radar sensing offers a method of achieving 24‐h all‐weather drone surveillance, but in order to be maximally effective, systems need to be able to discriminate between birds and drones. This work examines drone‐bird classification performance as a function of signal to noise ratio (SNR). Classification at low SNR values is necessary in order to classify drones with a small radar cross‐section (RCS), as well as to facilitate reliable classification at longer ranges. To investigate the relationship between classification performance and SNR, Gaussian noise is added to an experimentally obtained dataset of radar spectrograms. Classification is performed by convolutional neural networks (CNNs). It is shown that for the data available classification accuracy drops with falling SNR, as might be expected for any given CNN. The degree to which performance degrades with reduced SNR is presented. It is further shown that simpler network architectures are more robust to noise. Finally, it is demonstrated that data augmentation can be used as a means of enhancing classification accuracy at lower SNR values. Bayesian optimisation is used to find the optimal augmentation hyperparameters and overall, classification accuracies of 92% are achieved at low SNR.
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spelling doaj.art-76d0d3c25ec14a449baeb4b454cdcd602022-12-22T03:13:04ZengWileyIET Radar, Sonar & Navigation1751-87841751-87922022-01-01161223310.1049/rsn2.12161SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networksHolly Dale0Chris Baker1Michail Antoniou2Mohammed Jahangir3George Atkinson4Stephen Harman5Microwave Integrated Systems Laboratory University of Birmingham Birmingham UKMicrowave Integrated Systems Laboratory University of Birmingham Birmingham UKMicrowave Integrated Systems Laboratory University of Birmingham Birmingham UKMicrowave Integrated Systems Laboratory University of Birmingham Birmingham UKMicrowave Integrated Systems Laboratory University of Birmingham Birmingham UKAveillant Cambridge UKAbstract Radar sensing offers a method of achieving 24‐h all‐weather drone surveillance, but in order to be maximally effective, systems need to be able to discriminate between birds and drones. This work examines drone‐bird classification performance as a function of signal to noise ratio (SNR). Classification at low SNR values is necessary in order to classify drones with a small radar cross‐section (RCS), as well as to facilitate reliable classification at longer ranges. To investigate the relationship between classification performance and SNR, Gaussian noise is added to an experimentally obtained dataset of radar spectrograms. Classification is performed by convolutional neural networks (CNNs). It is shown that for the data available classification accuracy drops with falling SNR, as might be expected for any given CNN. The degree to which performance degrades with reduced SNR is presented. It is further shown that simpler network architectures are more robust to noise. Finally, it is demonstrated that data augmentation can be used as a means of enhancing classification accuracy at lower SNR values. Bayesian optimisation is used to find the optimal augmentation hyperparameters and overall, classification accuracies of 92% are achieved at low SNR.https://doi.org/10.1049/rsn2.12161optimisationsignal classificationradar signal processingradar cross‐sectionsBayes methodsGaussian noise
spellingShingle Holly Dale
Chris Baker
Michail Antoniou
Mohammed Jahangir
George Atkinson
Stephen Harman
SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation
optimisation
signal classification
radar signal processing
radar cross‐sections
Bayes methods
Gaussian noise
title SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
title_full SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
title_fullStr SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
title_full_unstemmed SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
title_short SNR‐dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
title_sort snr dependent drone classification using convolutional neural networks
topic optimisation
signal classification
radar signal processing
radar cross‐sections
Bayes methods
Gaussian noise
url https://doi.org/10.1049/rsn2.12161
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AT mohammedjahangir snrdependentdroneclassificationusingconvolutionalneuralnetworks
AT georgeatkinson snrdependentdroneclassificationusingconvolutionalneuralnetworks
AT stephenharman snrdependentdroneclassificationusingconvolutionalneuralnetworks