OPTIMAL CFAR DETECTION IN WEIBULL CLUTTER

Optimal, in the maximum likelihood sense, constant false-alarm rate (C FAR) detection for Weibull clutter statistics, is investigated The pro posed OW (optimal Weibull) estimator is proved to be an asymptotically efficient estimator of the mean power of the Weibull clutter. Theoret ical analysis of the OW-CFAR detector is provided, while detection per formance analysis is carried out using the Monte Carlo simulation meth od. The operation of the median and morphological (MEMO)-CFAR detector in Weibull clutter statistics is also explained. It perform almost op timally in uniform clutter and, simultaneously, it is robust in multit arget situations. The performance of the proposed OW-CFAR detector in uniform Weibull clutter is used as a yardstick in the analysis of the MEMO cell-averager (CA) and ordered statistic (OS)-CFAR detectors. Non fluctuating and fluctuating (Swerling II) targets are considered in de tection analysis. The performance of the detectors is also examined at clutter edges.