The Radar Measurement of Range, Velocity and Acceleration

This paper is a study of the ultimate attainable accuracy in the radar measurement of range, range rate, and range acceleration. It is assumed that these quantities are to be measured by a coherent radar with a large output signal-to-noise ratio. The approach is entirely theoretical, and the accuracy evaluated is the accuracy that would be attained with an ideal receiver which performs maximum-likelihood estimates of the unknown parameters. The transmitted waveformn is fixed and arbitrary, and the error variances and covariances are evaluated in detail in termns of the amplitude and frequency modulation of the transmitted wave. Specific results are also given for constant amplitude pulses carrying arbitrary combinations of linear and quadratic frequency modulation.