Simulation and Ship Detection Using Surface Radial Current Observing Compact HF Radar

This paper proposes an effective method of improving ship detection performance of a compact high-frequency (HF) radar system which has been primarily optimized for observing surface radial current velocities and bearings. Previously developed ship detection systems have been vulnerable to error sources such as environmental noise and clutter when they are applied in a compact HF radar optimized for observing surface current. In particular, the influences of error are reduced by applying a principle component analysis of the generated range-Doppler maps. A compact radar signal model is first developed by the data acquired from an operating compact HF radar site. The proposed method is then validated by comparing it to the conventional ship detection method in terms of detection and false alarm rates. The experimental results confirm that the proposed method shows superior performance in both simulated and practical environments.