Fluctuating Target Detection in Low-grazing Angle with Mimo Radar

This paper focuses on the fluctuating target detection in low-grazing angle using Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems with widely separated antennas, where the multipath effects are very abundant. The performance of detection can be improved via utilizing the multipath echoes, which is equivalent to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by using multipath echoes. First, the reflection coefficient considering the curved earth effect is derived. Then, the general signal model for MIMO radar is introduced for fluctuating target in low-grazing angle. Using the Neyman-Pearson sense, the detectors of fluctuating targets, i.e., Swerling 1–4, with multipath are analyzed. Finally, the simulation results show that the performance can be enhanced markedly when the multipath effects are considered.