A practical method for specifying radar track extraction performance

A method for specifying the performance of maritime surveillance radar track-while-scan (TWS) systems is described. Recordings of plot (contact) data have been processed using a reference tracking system to identify all plots pertaining to genuine targets. Various off-line analysis steps are used to categorise the plots and assign performance requirements for generating and maintaining the required tracks. The completed-performance data enables the track output of candidate tracking systems to be automatically measured against the performance requirements for acceptance purposes. The method has been devised for the procurement of several Royal Navy (RN) radar track extraction systems and is a technique that could be applied to similar processing tasks for other sensors