Some new results of radar target identification using high resolution range profiles

High resolution range profiles (HRRPs) are known to have many merits as feature vectors for radar target recognition. The increasing availability of high resolution radars has encouraged the study of automatic radar target recognition (ARTR) or identification (ID). The paper focuses on the impact on target ID rate of varied bandwidths at different SNR, and also on the mutual influence between the optimal bandwidth and the SNR, when HRRPs are used as the feature vectors for ARTR. Using radar target signature simulation software, target ID experiments were conducted with different target groups, varied radar bandwidth and varied SNR. The results show that: (1) the correct ID rate is affected by both bandwidth and SNR; (2) the optimal bandwidth varies for different SNR and different sized targets; (3) the greater the SNR, the smaller the optimal bandwidth; (4) for similar ID performance, small-sized targets require greater optimal bandwidth. A 3D surface of ID rate as a function of both radar bandwidth and the SNR is obtained.