CLEAN Based Blind Speed Side Lobe (BSSL) Suppression in the Radon Fourier Transform (RFT) for Multi-target Detection

The Radon-Fourier transform (RFT) is a novel method we have previously proposed for far-range, weak and high speed target detection. Due to the discrete pulse sampling, finite range resolution and limited integration time, the blind speed side lobe (BSSL) phenomenon may inevitably appear in the RFT. This phenomenon can lead to large false alarms and detection loss in a real multi-target scenario. To address this problem, an effective BSSL suppression method based on the CLEAN technique is proposed in this paper. This method first obtains the location of target's main-lobe peak via geometric analysis, then the target's RFT response can be constructed and further cleaned from the original RFT output. Simultaneously, the BSSL can be eliminated. Finally, detailed numerical experiments are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.