Idealized Radar GMTI Detection with Space-Time Processing

A new and somewhat different approach is utilized here for determining an upper-bound on ground moving target indication (GMTI) radar performance with two-dimensional space-time processing. An idealized clutter model and other simplifying assumptions are employed. It is shown that the elements of the clutter covariance matrix can be obtained from cross-correlations of the convolution of transmit and receive aperture functions at different times and locations. This feature could provide improved physical insight on how the aperture illumination functions influence performance. Results can be expressed in terms of dimensionless parameters which do not explicitly require the specification of antenna length, radar frequency, platform speed or even target range. Some representative simulation results for idealized and conventional processing are presented and compared.