Radar Maneuvering Target Motion Parameter Estimation Based on 2-D Region Centroid Tracking and Polynomial Chirplet Transform

In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating the motion parameters of a high-speed maneuvering target under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environment. Based on the 2-D region centroid detection-tracking (RCDT) and the polynomial Chirplet transform (PCT), a novel parameter estimation method, named as RCDT-PCT, is proposed. Numerical investigations show that in terms of noise resistance capability, parameter estimation accuracy, and coherent integration performance, the RCDT-PCT is superior to some similar techniques for the motion parameter estimation. The results show that the RCDT-PCT can estimate the target's motion parameters accurately, and integrate the energy of radar returns along the target's moving trajectory, even the input SNR is low to −33 dB.