Optimal Spectrum Filtering for the Radar Detection of Targets in Clutter

Book excerpt: A novel radar technique is proposed for detecting the presence of a target having a priori known frequency-dependent scattering properties. The target coexists with a large collection of clutter elements having random scattering properties and ranges. Assuming a wideband random signal excitation, the power spectrum of the scattered field consists of the target return having an a priori known frequency behavior embedded in a clutter return having a random frequency dependence. On an ensemble average basis, the clutter appears as additive noise from which the existence of a prescribed target return must be extracted.