Hierarchical Frequency-Guided Knowledge Reconstruction for SAR Incremental Target Detection

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) incremental target detection faces challenges from the limits of incremental learning frameworks and distinctive properties of SAR imagery. The limited spatial representation of targets, combined with strong background interference and fluctuating scattering characteristics, leads to unstable feature learning when new classes are introduced. These factors exacerbate representation mismatches between existing and incremental tasks, resulting in significant degradation in detection performance. To address these challenges, we propose a novel incremental learning framework featuring Hierarchical Frequency-Knowledge Reconstruction (HFKR). HFKR leverages wavelet-based frequency decomposition and cross-domain feature reconstruction to enhance consistency between global and detailed features throughout the incremental learning process. Specifically, we analyze the manifestation of representation mismatch in feature space and its impact on detection accuracy, while investigating the correlation between hierarchical semantic features and frequency-domain components. Based on these insights, HFKR is embedded within the feature transfer phase, where frequency-guided decomposition and reconstruction facilitate seamless integration of new and old task features, thereby maintaining model stability across updates. Extensive experiments on two benchmark SAR datasets, MSAR and SARAIRcraft, demonstrate that our method delivers superior performance compared to existing incremental detection approaches. Furthermore, its robustness in multi-step incremental scenarios highlights the potential of HFKR for broader applications in SAR image analysis.