TRACKING RADAR ADVANCED SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPUTING

THE MISSION OPERATIONS DIRECTED AT USAKA OFTEN INVOLVE COMPLEX TARGET CONFIGURATIONS UNDER OBSERVATION BY NUMEROUS RADARS, OPTICS SENSORS, AND TELEMETRY STATIONS. IN NON-NOMINAL MISSIONS, AND IN COMPLEX NOMINAL MISSIONS, THE REAL TIME ACTIVITIES UNFOLD RAPIDLY WHICH TAXES THE ABILITIES OF THE OPERATORS TO REACT OPTIMALLY WITH THE ATTENDANT THREAT OF DATA LOSS. THESE CONTINGENCIES ARE OFTEN NOT APPARENT UNTIL LONG AFTER THE TARGET COMPLEX HAS CROSSED THE RADAR HORIZON WHICH LIMITS THE TIME AVAILABLE TO INSTALL MITIGATION ACTIONS. THE REQUIREMENTS ARE IDENTIFIED THEN TO PROVIDE EXTENDED SENSOR DETECTION AND TRACKING CAPABILITIES AND TO IMPROVE SENSOR DATA WHICH WOULD BE FED INTO REAL-TIME FEATURE EXTRACTION AND DISCRIMINATION FUNCTIONS. THE LATTER FUNCTIONS WOULD THEN AID THE RANGE OPERATORS, CONFIRM TARGET IDENTIFICATIONS, AND DETERMINE OPTIMUM SENSOR ASSIGNMENTS. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL DEVELOP CONCEPTS WHEREBY USAKA RADAR OPERATIONS MAY BE IMPROVED THROUGH THE USE OF REAL-TIME COHERENT SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. THESE TECHNIQUES INCLUDE COHERENT INTEGRATION, DOPPLER-AIDED RANGE TRACKING, ENHANCED RANGE AND DOPPLER RESOLUTION, AND PHASE-DERIVED-RANGE TRACKING FUNCTIONS. THE REAL-TIME DATA PRODUCTS RESULTING FROM THESE TECHNIQUES MAY THEN BE FED INTO A FUTURE DISCRIMINATION FUNCTION.