A Novel Two-Step Detection Algorithm for Range Spread Target

In the domain of wideband radar, detecting targets often involves the dispersion of target echo energy across multiple range resolution cells. A critical aspect of enhancing wideband radar target detection performance lies in effectively utilizing this discrete energy information. This paper introduces the Hough transform and weighted amplitude iteration detector (HT-WAID) for wideband radar, which effectively mitigates the effects of range spread on detection performance. Firstly, the analysis commences for wideband radar targets under both single-rank and multi-rank conditions. Subsequently, a weighted amplitude iteration range spread target detector (WAI-RSTD) is introduced. Furthermore, the WAI-RSTD algorithm is extended to a two-dimensional detection space using Hough transform theory. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms Adaptive generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) and Wald-like detectors, showcasing superior target detection and clutter suppression capabilities in complex white Gaussian noise and Weibull clutter backgrounds.