On the performance of order-statistics CFAR detectors

The detection performance of order-statistics-based two-parameter CFAR (constant false alarm rate) algorithms is compared with that of the classical Goldstein (1973) two-parameter CFAR. The performance comparison uses polarimetrically processed, high-resolution (1-ft×1-ft) SAR (synthetic aperture radar) imagery of real targets in clutter. The detectors are shown to provide comparable performance for the case of a single target in clutter. The order-statistics CFAR detectors, however, provide the best performance when the scene contains two closely spaced targets