Simulation of radar sea clutter using autoregressive modelling and K-distribution

Abstract

In the context of target detection by surface radars, the paper presents a new technique for modelling and simulating the sea clutter. This technique was derived from an analysis of real-life data obtained with an S-band radar. The study on experimental measurements has shown that the correlation properties, in terms of power spectrum, of the sea clutter can be well described by means of a low order autoregressive (AR) model, while its amplitude can be modelled in using the K-distribution. A procedure for simulating sea clutter with an AR model combined with a K amplitude distribution, is proposed and is tested by statistical tests and a comparison with real sea clutter data.