A joint processing scheme of the aerostat-borne radar for the low altitude targets detection in urban clutter environment

As an important equipment for detecting low altitude targets, the aerostat-borne surveillance radar has been applied successfully in extensive occasions. However, with the growing of urban agglomeration and the extension of highway networks, the influences of heavy clutter and ground moving targets on the aerostat-borne radar are becoming more remarkable, which results in poor detecting and tracking performance. In this paper, by utilizing the statistic characteristics of the models of urban clutter, ground moving targets and low altitude targets, a joint processing scheme of the knowledge-aided method and the multiple-hypothesis-tracking (MHT) technique is proposed, based on the pulse-Doppler (PD) processing and large dynamic range receiver. Experimental results show that the processing scheme performs quite well, and can enhance the ability to detect low-altitude, low-velocity, small targets in the urban area remarkably.