Performance Evaluation of SeaSonde High-Frequency Radar for Vessel Detection

High-frequency (HF) surface wave radar has been identified to be a gap-filling technology for Maritime Domain Awareness. Present SeaSonde HF radars have been designed to map surface currents but are able to track surface vessels in a dual-use mode. Rutgers and CODAR Ocean Sensors, Ltd., have collaborated on the development of vessel detection and tracking capabilities from compact HF radars, demonstrating that ships can be detected and tracked by multistatic HF radar in a multiship environment while simultaneously mapping ocean currents. Furthermore, the same vessel is seen simultaneously by the radar based on different processing parameters, mitigating the need to preselect a fixed set and thereby improving detection performance.