Colloquium: "Through-the-wall Object Reconstruction Via Radar Detection"

Speaker: Dr. Aihua Wood, AFIT
Host: Dr. Qingbo Huang
Time:  Meet-n-greet at 2:30 p.m., talk at 3 p.m.

ABSTRACT:

In this presentation, we discuss a process for numerically reconstructing obstacles behind walls using the scattered data from electromagnetic radiation. In particular, we provide a reconstruction procedure that uses a source within the numerical field, so that the incoming field is not generated by a plane wave, and that the object is located within a set of walls that will interfere with the ability to analyze the object normally. The data used for performing this reconstruction is generated numerically, but it is assumed that the scattered field can be known at certain locations outside of the walled area, instead of known as a function. These conditions violate the assumptions of the known theoretical reconstructions, so a different approach is needed. We develop an appropriate adjustment to the theoretical methods presented in the literature to analyze obstacles in this setting, and present some numerical results towards this end. The reconstruction method seeks to discover the shape, size, and conductivity of the obstacles using a behind-walls analysis. We will also present some experiments using machine learning and compare the results where applicable.

SPEAKER BIO:

Aihua Wood received her B.S. from Peking University, China, M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, all in Mathematics. She worked as a visiting assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and Penn State University–Erie before joining the faculty at the Air Force Institute of Technology where she has been a full professor since 2002.

Dr. Wood’s research interests include electromagnetic wave propagation, rarefied gas dynamics, and applications of machine learning in STEM areas.