SAR-BagNet: An Ante-hoc Interpretable Recognition Model Based on Deep Network for SAR Image

Abstract

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely used in SAR image recognition and have achieved high recognition accuracy on some public datasets. However, due to the opacity of the decision-making mechanism, the reliability and credibility of CNNs are insufficient at present, which hinders their application in some important fields such as SAR image recognition. In recent years, various interpretable network structures have been proposed to discern the relationship between a CNN’s decision and image regions. Unfortunately, most interpretable networks are based on optical images, which have poor recognition performance for SAR images, and most of them cannot accurately explain the relationship between image parts and classification decisions. Based on the above problems, in this study, we present SAR-BagNet, which is a novel interpretable recognition framework for SAR images. SAR-BagNet can provide a clear heatmap that can accurately reflect the impact of each part of a SAR image on the final network decision. Except for the good interpretability, SAR-BagNet also has high recognition accuracy and can achieve 98.25% test accuracy.