CA-CFAR Detection Performance in Homogeneous Weibull Clutter

This letter presents a novel and exact formulation for the probability of detection of a cell-averaging, constant false-alarm rate (CFAR) radar system operating in a homogeneous Weibull clutter environment. We consider a realistic scenario with both target returns and clutter residues within the cell under test by the radar processing. In passing, we derive novel closed-form expressions for the probability density function and the cumulative distribution function of the sum of an exponentially fluctuating target embedded in Weibull clutter. The derived exact expressions are given in terms of both: 1) bivariate Fox H-function, for which we provide a portable and efficient MATHEMATICA code and 2) easily computable series representations. The validity of all expressions is confirmed via Monte Carlo simulation. The derived results are compared with the idealized Neyman–Pearson detector so as to quantify the CFAR losses, and they indicate that even a small change in the shape parameter of the clutter distribution can significantly affect the radar detection performance.