Radar target identification using one-dimensional scattering centres

Identification concerning different types of radar targets can be achieved by using various radar signatures, such as one-dimensional (1-D) range profiles, 2-D radar images, and 1-D or 2-D scattering centres on a target. To solve the target identification problem, the authors utilise 1-D scattering centres, which correspond to the highest peaks in the 1-D range profile. The proposed approach obtains scale and translational-invariant features based on the central moments from the distribution of the 1-D scattering centres on the target; these 1-D scattering centres can be extracted from various techniques such as the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), fast root-multiple signal classification (fast root-MUSIC), total least squares-Prony (TLS-Prony), generalised eigenvalues utilising signal subspace eigenvectors (GEESE), and the matrix-pencil (MP) algorithm. The information redundancy contained in these features, as well as their dimensions, are further reduced via the Karhunen-Loeve transform, followed by adequate scaling of the computed central moments. The resulting small dimensional and redundancy-free feature vectors are classified using the Bayes classifier. Finally, this new strategy for radar target identification is demonstrated with data measured in the compact range facility, and the above five different techniques for 1-D scattering centre extraction are compared and investigated in the context of target identification.