Integration of a road network into a radar ground moving target tracking (GMTT) system and its performance evaluation

This paper discusses the application of multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) to the processing of ground target data collected with a long range surveillance radar. A key element in the successful tracking of ground targets is the use of road networks. Thus, the paper begins with an overview of the alternative approaches that have been considered for incorporating road data into a ground target tracker and then it gives a detailed description of the methods that have been chosen. The major design issues to be addressed include the manner in which road filter models are included into a Variable-Structure Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) filtering scheme, how the road filter models are chosen to handle winding roads and intersections, and the tracking of targets that go on and off-road. Performance will be illustrated using simulated data and real data collected from a large surveillance area with a GMTI radar. The area considered contains regions of heavy to moderate target densities and clutter. Since the real data included only targets of opportunity (TOO), it was necessary to define metrics to evaluate relative performance as alternative tracking methods/parameters are considered. These metrics are discussed and comparative results are presented.