A Class of Novel STAP Algorithms Using Sparse Recovery Technique

A class of novel STAP algorithms based on sparse recovery technique were presented. Intrinsic sparsity of distribution of clutter and target energy on spatial-frequency plane was exploited from the viewpoint of compressed sensing. The original sample data and distribution of target and clutter energy was connected by a ill-posed linear algebraic equation and popular L1 optimization method could be utilized to search for its solution with sparse characteristic. Several new filtering algorithm acting on this solution were designed to clean clutter component on spatial-frequency plane effectively for detecting invisible targets buried in clutter. The method above is called CS-STAP in general. CS-STAP showed their advantage compared with conventional STAP technique, such as SMI, in two ways: Firstly, the resolution of CS-STAP on estimation for distribution of clutter and target energy is ultra-high such that clutter energy might be annihilated almost completely by carefully tuned filter. Output SCR of CS-STAP algorithms is far superior to the requirement of detection; Secondly, a much smaller size of training sample support compared with SMI method is requested for CS-STAP method. Even with only one snapshot (from target range cell) could CS-STAP method be able to reveal the existence of target clearly. CS-STAP method display its great potential to be used in heterogeneous situation. Experimental result on dataset from mountaintop program has provided the evidence for our assertion on CS-STAP.