Tracking Before Detection Based on Adaptive Constructed RDT for Shipborne HFSWR

Shipborne high-frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR) has wide-area coverage capability and maneuverability compared to shore-based HFSWR systems. Due to the influence of platform motion, especially yaw motion, the traditional tracking before detection (TBD) method based on channel range-Doppler-time (RDT) becomes ineffective, resulting in track fragmentation or loss. In this letter, the specific effects of platform yaw motion on target detection are analyzed, and then, a TBD method based on the adaptive constructed beam RDT is proposed. The proposed method includes beam RDT dynamic adjustment and RDT data repair, which effectively addresses the problems caused by the yaw motion of the shipborne platform, such as the change of the target beam and the target moving out of the radar detection coverage area. Both cases lead to a reduction in target amplitude and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), exacerbating the target track fragmentation or loss problem. Finally, experimental results using measured data demonstrate that the proposed method substantially enhances the target detection and tracking performance of shipborne HFSWR, extending the target tracking time and minimizing target track fragmentation.