A Net Track Solution to Pose-Angular Tracking of Maneuvering Targets in Clutter with HRR Radar

Maintaining track continuity is a challenging task for large area persistent surveillance with high target density, rapid target maneuvering, and low target-to-clutter ratio. When the sensor revisit interval is long, measurement-to-track association becomes rather difficult. Although maneuvering targets can be discriminated via Doppler processing, clutter still masks moving targets at certain aspect angles. This creates a blind zone for GMTI (ground moving target indicator) radar, which may extend as large as 25% of the azimuth angles. For high-value targets that may undergo evasive maneuvers, a net track solution coordinating multiple looks from a netted set of sensors is set forth in this paper to ensure continuous monitoring. Target visibility therefore needs to be factored into netted radar platform coordination and sensor systems management. For ground targets, their heading is mostly aligned with the longitudinal axis. The target pose thus carries kinematic information about the direction of velocity vector that can be used to assist tracking of maneuvering targets. In this paper, the range profiles of high range resolution (HRR) radar are used for pose angular estimation of maneuvering targets in clutter. A pose-sensitive classifier provides matching scores that are converted into likelihoods and updated over time in a probabilistic manner. Pose angular tracking from individual sensors in the network is fused to cover the blind zone encountered by individual sensors. A software simulation environment that produces range profiles based on the RF signatures of moving targets is used in the study. Simulation results for pose angular tracking in clutter are presented to illustrate the net track solution concept and its performance.