Performance prediction for a coherent X-band radar in a maritime environment with K-distributed sea clutter

In this paper, theory is developed for the prediction of the false alarm (P_FA) and detection (P_D) performance of surface targets in K-distributed sea clutter detected by means of Doppler processing techniques. Vital to this analysis is the inclusion of the correlation properties of the sea clutter between all the pulses within a burst of pulses. The resultant technique allows for the prediction of P_FA and P_D for each of the bins in the output of the Doppler processing stage of a fixed-threshold detector. The technique provides the ability to specify different thresholds for each of the Doppler bins. The analysis is extended to include Swerling type 1 and 2 targets for the calculation of P_D. The performance of a noncoherent detector is provided for comparison. Results that demonstrate the application of the developed theory are also presented.