Assessment of Tracker Operational Effectiveness

A method is described for assessing the performance of automatic tracking systems against various metrics that quantify performance in different areas. A desired performance level is defined for each metric, and the probability that a particular track meets this performance level is empirically approximated from archived sensor data. The individual metric probabilities are combined using a weighted average to produce an overall tracker rating. An important feature of the approach is that provision is made for the case where absolute truth is unavailable, and output of the trackers under test can be compared with incomplete truth. The incomplete truth is produced by a manual inspection of the data and through editing the output of the best available tracking algorithm. An example of applying the method is presented