Radar detection in the moments space of the scattered signal parameters

Abstract This paper proposes the theoretical foundations of a novel radar detection method, based on analysis and decision making in the moments space of the scattered signal parameters. Through an adaptive process and from large-size samples of these parameters, several normal-distributed moments are calculated, which allow assigning each resolution cell of the searching region to the background or anomaly classes. Following the Neyman–Pearson criterion two optimal detection algorithms are proposed, one for statistically independent moments and other for correlated moments. Finally, three background-anomaly pairs are simulated, taking the amplitude of the video signal as parameter and two of its moments for decision making. As result, the detection curves for two sizes of the sample are presented, showing the possibilities of the proposed method.