Clutter Spectra of Low PRF AMTI Pulse-Doppler Radar

Approximate expressions are derived for the video clutter spectra in the receiver of a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF), airborne moving target indicator (AMTI), pulse-Doppler radar for both step-scanning and continuous-scanning antennas. The receiver is assumed to process the received waveform with a clutter-tracking oscillator and a window function is employed to obtain short-term spectra. Except for the broadening effects of the window function, it is shown that the clutter spectrum can be simply related to the antenna voltage-gain pattern. It is further shown, in the scanning antenna case, that the combined spectral broadening due to platform motion and antenna scanning cannot be assumed to be the result of the convolution of the separate effects unless the antenna gain pattern has a Gaussian shape. The approximate clutter expressions are illustrated by examples and are shown to agree well with the results of computer calculations.     

Adaptive Clutter Suppression in Step Scan Radars

Clutter echoes with unknown power spectra (from weather, sea, chaff disturbances) can be suppressed only adaptively. The use of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) for clutter suppression in step scan radars is investigated by use of a clutter model that is derived in analogy to measured clutter data of a radar with a rotating antenna.     

Radar Detection in Weibull Clutter

Radar detection in Weibull clutter is examined from a statistical detection viewpoint. Weibull clutter parameters are determined and related to measured values of land and sea clutter. Optimum performance in Weibull clutter is determined, and practical receivers that approach this performance are identified. Receiver performance in Rayleigh, log-normal, and Weibull clutter is evaluated and compared.     

The Effect of MTI Filter and Number of Unique Staggers on First-Null Depth and Clutter Attenuation

A recent series of papers have provided a model for a staggered-PRF radar which can be used to estimate both the depth of the first null (which is dependent upon the ratio of some function fM(?) of the set of M sampling deviations {?m} to the average sampling interval) and the clutter attenuation (as a function of the product of fM(?) and clutter standard deviation ?c). Some inconsistencies in the aforementioned papers are discussed and it is shown that realistic filters and typical stagger-ratio sets produce results which differ significantly from the idealized-filter predictions. Furthermore, even after filtering the residual clutter power at dc is shown to be more significant than the power in all the displaced clutter spectra postulated by the aforementioned model.     

区域杂波估计的多目标跟踪方法

高斯粒子概率假设密度（PHD）滤波往往假定杂波密度参数已知,这种做法对于实际应用是不现实的。此外,杂波的参数值通常依赖于环境条件,可能随时间发生变化。因此,多目标跟踪算法中需要实时准确估计杂波密度的参数。基于此,提出了一种多目标跟踪的区域杂波估计方法。首先根据量测信息在线估计出场景中的杂波数目,然后估计落入目标附近感兴趣区域的杂波数,并估计每个目标感兴趣区域杂波强度。仿真结果表明,在复杂场景下算法的跟踪性能明显优于未进行杂波估计的多目标跟踪算法,提高了跟踪的实时性和跟踪精度。     

Testing the Independence of Nonhomogeneous Rayleigh Clutter

Two attractive real-time implementation tests are presented that discriminate between correlated and uncorrelated clutter. A clutter model is assumed in which the envelope distribution within a cell is Rayleigh, but the mean clutter level fluctuates from cell to cell. Both the tests utilize observations made in pairs on two clutter envelopes corresponding to two consecutive azimuth sweeps. The results are applicable to real-time testing of the effectiveness of various decorrelation techniques employed by radar systems.     

Clutter Suppression by Complex Weighting of Coherent Pulse Trains

Uniform coherent pulse trains offer a practical solution to the problem of designing a radar signal possessing both high range and range-rate resolution. The Doppler sensitivity provides some rejection of off-Doppler (clutter) returns in the matched filter receiver. This paper considers the use of a processor in which members of the received pulse train are selectively weighted in amplitude and phase to improve clutter suppression. The techniques described are particularly suitable for rejecting interference entering the processor through ambiguous responses (range sidelobes) of the signal. The complex weights which are derived are optimum in the sense that they produce the maximum clutter suppression for a given detection efficiency. In determining these weights, it is assumed that the distribution of clutter in range and range rate relative to targets of interest is known. Thus, clutter suppression is achieved by reducing the sidelobe levels in specified regions of the receiver response. These techniques are directly applicable to array antennas; the analogous antenna problem would be to reduce sidelobe levels in a particular sector while preserving gain. Complex weighting is most successful when the clutter is limited in both range and velocity.     

On Weibull-Distributed Weather Clutter

Weather clutter was observed using an L band range (200nmi) air-route surveillance radar (ARSR). It is shown that the measured clutter amplitudes obey a Weibull distribution.     

Doppler Processor Rejection of Range Ambiguous Clutter

Doppler processors are used in radar to separate target returns from clutter. When the clutter is at a range farther than the unambiguous range of the radar, the ability to reject the clutter is degraded. In this article the degradation is analyzed for an N-pulse batch processor with Dolph weighting, and the results show how degradation varies with design sidelobe level.     

机载MIMO雷达空时自适应杂波对消器

针对机载多输入多输出(MIMO)雷达杂波分布呈现空时耦合特性,提出一种空时自适应杂波对消器.利用机载MIMO雷达的脉冲回波数据,构造杂波对消器的系数矩阵.通过空时自适应杂波对消器的预处理,可以有效地抑制杂波,并通过与常规空时处理算法的级联,最终可以有效提高动目标的检测性能.实现了由传统地基雷达杂波对消器向机载运动平台的推广.仿真结果表明,这种自适应杂波对消器不仅适用于正侧视雷达,对于非正侧视雷达也同样适用.     

Constant-False-Alarm-Rate Processors for Locally Nonstationary Clutter

A technique for designing normalizing processors for locally non-stationary clutter is discussed. The design procedure assumes the logarithm of the clutter power varies as a polynomial with range. When the actual environment matches the design environment, the false-alarm rate is a constant that is independent of the polynomial coefficients. A measure of the relative target detection capability as a function of the number of normalization cells and the degree of the design-environment polynomial is given. The applicability of the processors to non-Rayleigh clutter is discussed.     

Radar Properties of Non-Rayleigh Sea Clutter

Measurements of sea clutter at low grazing angles using high- resolution radar show that the probability density p(x) of envelope detected sea clutter is not Rayleigh. Using the composite surface scattering model, a special varying clutter density p(x|?0) is proposed and is used to explain the non-Rayleigh nature of clutter. Since the clutter distribution has an enormous effect on the performance of a radar, the variation of the clutter densities, p(x) and p(x|?0), with various radar parameters such as frequency, pulsewidth, and polarization is found. Finally, a simulation of the composite surface scattering model is performed, and it verifies the effect of the various parameters on p(x).     

冲击杂波下的MIMO雷达DOA估计方法

研究了对称α稳定分布(SαS)冲击杂波下的多输入多输出（MIMO）雷达目标波达方向（DOA）估计问题,分别提出基于分数低阶最小方差无畸变响应(FrMVDR)的MIMO雷达DOA估计算法和无穷范数归一化最小方差无畸变响应（Inf-MVDR)算法。FrMVDR算法,首先进行冲击杂波特征指数的估计,然后使MIMO雷达接收阵列的分数低阶输出功率最小,实现MIMO雷达的DOA估计。为了避免FrMVDR算法对杂波特征指数估计,提出Inf-MVDR算法,首先用无穷范数对接收信号进行归一化处理,使归一化后的阵列输出功率有界,继而采用传统MVDR算法进行DOA估计。计算机仿真验证了上述两种算法的有效性;同时仿真结果还表明在冲击杂波下,MIMO雷达的空间分集特性可显著提高DOA估计的精度。     

HRR Detector for Slow-Moving Targets in Sea Clutter

The radar detection of targets in the presence of sea clutter has historically relied upon the radial velocity of targets with respect to the radar platform either by exploiting the relative target Dopplers (for targets with sufficient radial velocity) or by discerning the paths targets traverse from scan to scan. For targets with little to no radial velocity component, though, it can become quite difficult to differentiate targets from the surrounding sea clutter. This paper addresses the detection of slow-moving targets in sea clutter using a high resolution radar (HRR) such that the target has perceptible extent in range. Under the assumption of completely random sea clutter spikes based on an epsiv-contaminated mixture model with the signal and clutter powers known, optimal detection performance results from using the likelihood ratio test (LRT). However, for realistic sea clutter, the clutter spikes tend to be a localized phenomenon. Based upon observations from real radar data measurements, a heuristic approach exploiting a salient aspect of the idealized LRT is developed which is shown to perform well when applied to real measured sea clutter.     

Clutter Residues of a Coherent MTI Radar Receiver

In moving target indicator radar receivers a saturation is always present in the IF stages in order to compress the dynamic range of large clutter inputs. This nonlinearity greatly affects the performances of the cancelling circuits, because of the spreading of the spectra. A quantitative analysis of this effect has been conducted, with an analytical expression chosen for the limitation characteristic. A high degradation of both single-and double-canceller improvement factors has been obtained. Losses of 20 dB for the double canceller are not uncommon. Clutter residue levels at the receiver output have also been computed in order to see how the performance compares with ideal constant false alarm rate behavior.     

Clutter Rejection using Peak Curvature

A typical tracking algorithm takes its input from a peak detector or plot extractor. This process reduces the sensor image data to point measurements and reduces the volume of data that the tracker must process. However, useful information can be lost. This paper shows how the clutter of a peak can be a useful feature for discriminating false alarms and valid detections. The benefit obtained by using this feature is quantified through false track rate on recorded sensor data. On recorded data with difficult clutter conditions, approximately sixty percent of false tracks are rejected by exploiting peak curvature     

Adaptive Radar Detection in Doubly Nonstationary Autoregressive Doppler Spread Clutter

The problem of adaptive radar detection in clutter which is nonstationary both in slow and fast time is addressed. Nonstationarity within a coherent processing interval (CPI) often precludes target detection because of the masking induced by Doppler spreading of the clutter. Across range bins (i.e., fast time), nonstationarity severely limits the amount of training data available to estimate the noise covariance matrix required for adaptive detection. Such difficult clutter conditions are not uncommon in complex multipath propagation conditions where path lengths can change abruptly in dynamic scenarios. To mitigate nonstationary Doppler spread clutter, an approximation to the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector is presented wherein the CPI from the hypothesized target range is used for both clutter estimation and target detection. To overcome the lack of training data, a modified time-varying autoregressive (TVAR) model is assumed for the clutter return. In particular, maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of the TVAR parameters, computed from a single snapshot of data, are used in a GLRT for detecting stationary targets in possibly abruptly nonstationary clutter. The GLRT is compared with three alternative methods including a conceptually simpler ad hoc approach based on extrapolation of quasi-stationary data segments. Detection performance is assessed using simulated targets in both synthetically-generated and real radar clutter. Results suggest the proposed GLRT with TVAR clutter modeling can provide between 5–8 dB improvement in signal-to-clutter plus noise ratio (SCNR) when compared with the conventional methods.     

Clutter Suppression Properties of Weighted Pulse Trains

A common but troublesome requirement on radar sensors is the detection of a target in the interference from undesired scatterers, or clutter. Systems with coherent processing of pulse trains are uniquely suited for the purpose because, with pulse trains, it is possible to concentrate the receiver output for particular values of Doppler and thus suppress the clutter by Doppler filtering. This paper discusses to what degree the effectiveness of the method can be enhanced by tapering, or weighting, of the pulse amplitudes. The general results are illustrated by computer-plotted response functions for weighted pulse trains. The clutter suppression efficiency of weighting is calculated both for unilateral weighting in the receiver and for bilateral weighting in both receiver and transmitter. The significance of additional phase weighting is discussed and the results for pure amplitude weighting are compared with publishedwork on phase and amplitude weighting.     

非高斯杂波下自适应雷达目标检测新方法

在球不变随机向量(SIRV)非高斯杂波背景下,研究了多脉冲相参雷达目标的自适应检测问题。假设杂波具有相同的协方差矩阵结构和可能相关的纹理分量,提出了新的协方差矩阵估计器,并获得了相应的自适应归一化匹配滤波器(ANMF)。理论分析表明,在估计杂波分组大小与实际情况匹配时,所获得的ANMF对杂波功率水平和协方差矩阵结构均具有恒虚警率(CFAR)特性。仿真结果表明:当估计的杂波分组大小失配时,所获得的ANMF具有近似CFAR特性,并进一步分析了不同参数变化对所提检测器性能的影响。与已有的ANMF相比,所获得的ANMF具有更好的检测性能,且迭代次数更小,其相对于已知杂波协方差矩阵的最优归一化匹配滤波器(NMF)的检测损失也更小,具有很好的实际应用前景。