CFAR for homogeneous part of high-resolution imagery

In high-resolution imaging, weak target pixel amplifiers may not be detected in the presence of clutter containing strong nonhomogeneities, when conventional approaches are used. The authors describe a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) approach that avoids the elimination of these significant target returns. The nonhomogeneous clutter as well as the weak target components are detected with this approach. The targets could then be discriminated from the homogeneities by discrimination techniques. It is shown how the lower amplitude components of the background noise and homogeneous clutter (which have Rayleigh statistics) can be detected in the presence of strong homogeneous clutter and targets. The average level of the homogeneous component is then determined using these lower-amplitude components. This CFAR approach avoids having a CFAR on the strong nonhomogeneities as well as the homogeneous component. The avoidance is what yields the ability to detect weak target pixel amplitudes     

Radar measurement accuracy for fluctuating targets

The impact of target radar cross-section (RCS) fluctuations on the thermal noise limited accuracy of radar measurements of range, range rate, and angle are evaluated for the Swerling fluctuation models. For large signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), the accuracy criterion used is the measurement error with the same probability span as the one corresponding to the standard deviation points of the measurement error for the nonfluctuating model.<>     

Exact Angular Accuracy of an Amplitude Comparison Sequential-Lobing Processor

Assume E1 and E2 are the squares of two sequential envelopes from the sequential lobing of an antenna in a given plane. Independent thermal noise is generally present in the envelopes. The statistic e = (E2 ? E1)/(E2 + E1) has been used as an estimate of the angle to a target for the significant region of small angles compared to a beamwidth. For a nonfading target, the probability density and characteristic function of e are obtained in closed form. Thence, the exact bias, standard deviation, and rms error in estimating the noise-free value e of e are obtained for all e and signal-to-noise ratios. The same type of statistic as e can be used to estimate time delay in a split range gate tracker.     

Effect of Single-Bit Digitization in Adaptive Array Control Loops

The properties of an adaptive array antenna, including transient response rate and control loop noise, depend on the intensity of the external noise field. The dependence can be reduced by 1-bit digitization of the real and imaginary parts of the signals from which the envelopes in the control loops are formed. This can be done without degrading the performance of the adaptive array.     

Angular Tracking of Two Closely Spaced Radar Targets

Bounds on the accuracy of unbiased estimates of the angular coordinates of a target, in the presence of a nearby interfering target, have previously been determined. These bounds allow for the angular resolution of two CW targets to an extent limited only by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An SNR of 40 dB will allow two targets to be resolved at less than one-fifth beamwidth (?/2 X) separation, for most values of target relative phase angles. The maximum-likelihood estimator for this problem, based on the outputs of a plane circular array of receiving elements, is found and simplified. An analog realization of the two-target maximum-likeli-hood processor is presented. This realization has the simple form of two single-target trackers each tracking one of the targets, linked by a decoupling network which accounts for the interference produced in each by the presence of a second target, when the targets are separated by less than a beamwidth. Results of an analog-computer simulation of the system are given and discussed. Finally an application to the finite-size single-target problem is given.     

A Semicoherent Detection and Doppler Estimation Statistic

Consider a uniform train of M coherent short pulses transmitted by a radar and received with a Doppler shift. When thermal noise is present, let the mth sample of the return at the video be represented by the complex process Zm. A novel detection and Doppler estimation criterion is analyzed which depends on the semicoherent statistic begin{equation*}{Z_{K}}^prime = sum_{m=k+1}^{M} {^{z}m^{z}m-k}^{ *}end{equation*} where the asterisk stands for complex conjugate. Its characteristics are also studied when the real and imaginary parts of Zm are digitized to one bit.