A passive automatic target recognition (ATR) system includes a range map processor configured to generate range-to-pixel map data based on digital elevation map data and parameters of a passive image sensor. The passive image sensor is configured to passively acquire image data. The passive ATR system also includes a detection processor configured to identify a region of interest (ROI) in the passively acquired sensor image data based on the range-to-pixel map data, and an ATR processor configured to generate an ATR decision for the ROI.