Evaluation and performance comparison of detection algorithms in a maritime environment

In this paper, a framework will be proposed for the evaluation of detector algorithms in a maritime environment. Performance metrics and test cases will be defined to allow the impartial comparison of different detectors. In this framework the main approaches for detector comparison are numerical simulation and the use of recorded sea clutter and boat reflectivity data. Available data suitable to the fair comparison of different algorithms will be highlighted, with results for a selection of algorithms. The proposed framework, performance metrics and baseline cases give researchers and system engineers the ability to quantify system performance in a complex clutter environment and to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular detector (or radar design(s)) as compared to another.