Averaging of Sorted Bigenvalues for STAP

Optimum STAP requires knowledge of the true interference covariance matrix. In practice, this matrix is not known and must be estimated from training data, which must be target-free and statistically homogeneous with respect to the range gate under test. These conditions are often not satisfied, which degrades the detection performance. Particularly, for ground moving target indication radar, the clutter Doppler frequency depends on range for all array geometries, except linear side-looking. This range dependency leads to problems in clutter suppression through STAP techniques. In this paper, we study issues associated with a novel technique, which works on the eigenanalysis of homogeneous clutter, to address this clutter range dependency problem. Simulation results show a significant improvement in processor performance as compared to conventional STAP techniques