Analysis on Matched Field Processing for Maneuvering Target Altitude Estimation with Skywave Over-The-Horizon Radar

Aimed at the problem of the decline of altitude measurement accuracy caused by the variety of target’s altitude and the maneuvering of target, the Skywave Over-The-Horizon Radar (OTHR) signal model based on maneuvering target is constructed. An improving altitude estimation algorithm of Maneuvering Target Matched Field Processing (MTMFP) is proposed. Firstly, the algorithm analyzes the signal transmission of OTHR based on micro-multipath combined with the electronic density distribution of the ionosphere. Secondly a complex range-doppler signal model with target’s maneuver parameters (i.e. target’s altitude varying rate and radial acceleration) is constructed. Finally, the estimated performance of the MTMFP algorithm is analyzed. The simulation results show that the method could realize the joint estimation of the target’s altitude varying rate and the radial acceleration. The estimation error of the altitude estimation is around 500m within 12 revisits.