Impact of ballistic target model uncertainty on IMM-UKF and IMM-EKF tracking accuracies

Some aspects of tracking of ballistic targets (BT) are analysed in this paper. In particular, the uncertainty in the kinematic model of the ballistic target is introduced and the impact on the tracking accuracies and robustness is detailed. Two architectures have been selected for comparison purposes: (i) an Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) constituted by a number of Extended Kalman Filters (EKFs) matched to the BT dynamics, each filter having the capability of on-line estimation of the BT characteristics (for instance the ballistic coefficient) and (ii) an IMM constituted by a number of Unscented Kalman Filters (UKFs). The performance evaluations of the designed IMM tracking algorithms are obtained via Monte Carlo simulation.