Track-before-detect for fluctuating targets in heterogeneous clutter

This paper considers the radar detection and tracking of weak fluctuating targets in heterogeneous clutter via dynamic programming based track-before-detect (DP-TBD). The target fluctuating satisfies the well-known Swerling I model and radar clutter is modeled by G0 distribution, which is widely used to model heterogeneous clutter received by small grazing angle or high resolution radar. In this case, the log-likelihood ratio (LLR), which utilizes the clutter distribution information and the target fluctuating information, is required during the integration process of DP-TBD. Since no closed-form solution of LLR exists under this condition, we present a fast but accurate LLR approximation using variable resolution grid based method. Various simulations are used to examine the performance of the DP-TBD using the approximate LLR.