Square-root accurate continuous-discrete extended-unscented Kalman filtering methods with embedded orthogonal and J-orthogonal QR decompositions for estimation of nonlinear continuous-time stochastic models in radar tracking

Abstract This paper presents a number of new state estimation algorithms, which unify the best features of the accurate continuous-discrete extended and unscented Kalman filters in treating nonlinear continuous-time stochastic systems with discrete measurements. In particular, our mixed-type algorithms succeed in estimating continuous-discrete stochastic systems with nonlinear and/or nondifferentiable measurements. The main weakness of these methods is the need for the Cholesky decomposition of predicted covariance matrices. Such a factorization is highly sensitive to numerical integration and round-off errors committed, which may result in losing the covariance’s positivity and, hence, failing the Cholesky decomposition. The latter problem is usually solved in the form of square-root filtering implementations, which propagate not the covariance matrix but its square root (Cholesky factor), only. Unfortunately, negative weights arising in applications of our mixed-type methods to high-dimensional stochastic systems preclude from designing conventional square-root filters. We address the mentioned issue with one-rank Cholesky factor updates or with hyperbolic QR transforms used for yielding J-orthogonal square-root filters. These novel algorithms are justified theoretically and examined and compared numerically to the non-square-root one in severe conditions of tackling a seven-dimensional radar tracking problem, where an aircraft executes a coordinated turn, in the presence of Gaussian or glint noise.