Growler detection in sea clutter using Gaussian spectrum models

Ship navigation through growler-infested waters is a problem of deep concern to the Canadian oil exploration industry. Growlers are small pieces of glacial ice weighing up to 100 tonnes. Conventional noncoherent marine radars do not perform well in detecting these small but dangerous objects. A coherent detector based on a Gaussian spectral width (GSW) parameterisation of received radar echoes from growlers and sea clutter is considered. Using real X-band radar measurements, the new GSW detector is shown to offer significant improvement in the detectability of growlers in the sea. Nevertheless, the performance achieved indicates that further integration is still required to satisfy practical performance requirements