PEOD: Pade estimated optimum (radar) detector

Abstract

An expression for the optimum non-Gaussian radar detector is derived from the non-Gaussian SIRP model (spherically invariant random process) clutter and a Pade approximation of the characteristic function of the SIRP. The SIRP model is used to perform coherent detection and to modelize the non-Gaussian clutter as a complex Gaussian process whose variance is itself a positive random variable (r.v.). The probability density function (PDF) of the variance characterizes the statistics of the STEP and after performing a Pade approximation of this PDF from reference clutter cells we derive the so-railed Pade estimated optimum (radar) detector (PEOD) without any knowledge about the statistics of the clutter. We evaluate PEOD performance for an unknown target signal embedded in K-distributed clutter and compare it with optimum detector performance (optimum in particular clutter statistics such as Optimum K Detector - OKD - in K-distributed clutter).