Abstract:

In this paper, a signal model representing the time-frequency-space domain characteristics of aircraft wake vortices is established for coherent Doppler radar. The optimal likelihood ratio detector for detection of aircraft
wake vortices and its quasi-optimal form for large number of pulses and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are derived. The quasi-optimal form is shown to possess the structure of time-frequency-space domain processing and constant false alarm rate (CFAR) property independent of the signal power. Analytical expressions and their approximations for probabilities of detection and false alarm are derived for the quasi-optimal detector. The results indicate that the radar performance of detecting aircraft wake vortices can be effectively improved by using time-frequency-space domain processing.

Key words: aircraft wake vortex, radar detection, time-frequency-space domain processing, constant false alarm rate