A comparison of coherent and non-coherent radar detection performance in radar sea clutter

Target detection by airborne radars of small slow-moving targets on the sea surface is typically performed using noncoherent techniques. However, when operated at higher altitudes, the radar sea clutter will be significantly stronger and alternative techniques such as coherent processing will be required to recover some of the lost detection performance. This paper shows how recently developed models of the Doppler spectra of clutter can be combined with standard analytic modelling methods to compare the detection performance of airborne maritime surveillance radars using either coherent or non-coherent detection processing.