Expert system CFAR: algorithm development, experimental demonstration, and transition to airborne radar systems

The genesis of the Expert System Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) processing arose in 1984 from insight gained during earlier experiments performed at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Rome Research Site, then known as Rome Air Development Center (RADC). Measured data analysis from the low altitude detection (LAD) experiments conducted in RADC's Surveillance Laboratory was instrumental in gaining insight into detecting weak signals (airborne target returns) embedded in strong nonhomogeneous clutter. This challenging problem, investigated by Signal Processing Chief, Mr. Clarence Silfer in the late 1970s, was studied to improve cruise missile detection by unattended short-range ground-based radars. The LAD experiments were performed in support of the Enhanced Defense Early Warning (EDEW) project. Dr. Russell Brown and Mr. David Mokry conducted measurements in the summer of 1981, and Mr. Paul van Etten performed analysis. The first author assisted in these early endeavors, focusing on data analysis.