Evaluating Radar Detection Probabilities by Steepest Descent Integration

The probability of detection for radars employing noncoherent integration and a fixed threshold or cell-averaging constant false alarm rate (CA-CFAR) processor is computed by numerical contour integration in the complex plane. The technique is applied to both nonfluctuating and chi-squared fluctuating targets. A bound on the truncation error allows for a simple stopping rule for the numerical integration. The method has applicability to many problems in radar detection theory.