Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is suitable for earth observation due to its unique advantages. In this study, we constructed an adaptive ship detector using full-polarization SAR images. First, we thoroughly investigated the differences in scattering characteristics between ships, their background, and the wave polarization anisotropy. We then constructed a novel ship detector that incorporates scattering and anisotropy (known as joint scattering–anisotropy [joint-SA]). We found that joint-SA is an effective physical quantity representing the difference between the ship and its background; thus, joint-SA can be used for ship detection using full-polarization image data. Second, we used generalized gamma distribution to characterize joint-SA statistics of sea clutter with a large homogeneity range. Third, an adaptive constant false alarm rate (CFAR) method was implemented based on joint-SA. Finally, RADARSAT-2 and GF-3 data in the C-band and ALOS data in the L-band were used for verification. We tested five datasets, and the experimental results verified the correctness and superiority of the CFAR method based on joint-SA. The results show that the signal–clutter ratio of the proposed ship detector (33.17 dB, 35.98 dB, and 57.25 dB) was higher than that of DBSP (8.92 dB, 3.43 dB, and 25.40 dB) and RsDVH (17.28 dB, 11.17 dB, and 54.55 dB). Furthermore, the proposed detector has a higher detection accuracy and lower false alarm rate than those of the other two other methods.

合成孔径雷达（SAR）因其独特的优势而适用于地球观测。在这项研究中，我们使用全极化 SAR 图像构建了一个自适应船舶探测器。首先，我们彻底研究了船舶之间的散射特性、背景和波极化各向异性的差异。然后，我们构建了一种结合了散射和各向异性（称为联合散射-各向异性 [joint-SA]）的新型船舶探测器。我们发现joint-SA是代表船舶与其背景差异的有效物理量；因此，联合 SA 可用于使用全偏振图像数据进行船舶检测。其次，我们使用广义伽马分布来表征具有大同质性范围的海杂波的联合SA统计。第三，一种基于joint-SA的自适应恒定虚警率(CFAR)方法。最后利用C波段的RADARSAT-2和GF-3数据以及L波段的ALOS数据进行验证。我们测试了五个数据集，实验结果验证了基于joint-SA的CFAR方法的正确性和优越性。结果表明，所提出的船舶探测器的信杂比（33.17 dB、35.98 dB和57.25 dB）高于DBSP（8.92 dB、3.43 dB和25.40 dB）和RsDVH（17.28 dB、11.17 dB）。和 54.55 分贝）。此外，与其他两种方法相比，所提出的检测器具有更高的检测精度和更低的误报率。实验结果验证了基于joint-SA的CFAR方法的正确性和优越性。结果表明，所提出的船舶探测器的信杂比（33.17 dB、35.98 dB和57.25 dB）高于DBSP（8.92 dB、3.43 dB和25.40 dB）和RsDVH（17.28 dB、11.17 dB）。和 54.55 分贝）。此外，与其他两种方法相比，所提出的检测器具有更高的检测精度和更低的误报率。实验结果验证了基于joint-SA的CFAR方法的正确性和优越性。结果表明，所提出的船舶探测器的信杂比（33.17 dB、35.98 dB和57.25 dB）高于DBSP（8.92 dB、3.43 dB和25.40 dB）和RsDVH（17.28 dB、11.17 dB）。和 54.55 分贝）。此外，与其他两种方法相比，所提出的检测器具有更高的检测精度和更低的误报率。