An analytical method to compute track continuity performance measures

Abstract

Continuity of an initiated track is of utmost importance for surveillance and defence systems. Discontinuity introduces severe degradation of both situational and critical awareness, affecting engagement planning and combat system effectiveness. It is therefore crucial to include continuity aspects in the track performance analysis. In this contribution a new computation method of continuity measures is described. The two measures of interest are the longest track segment and the number of track numbers. The computation method requires three inputs: Detection probability per scan, the track initiation and track maintenance criteria. Closed-form expressions for the probability distributions of the track continuity measures are derived. The closed-form expressions provide a computationally efficient method to compute the track continuity performance measures. This is illustrated using a Monte-Carlo simulation of the tracking process, which requires 100.000 runs to arrive at an error smaller than 1% with a computation time more than 200 times slower than the implementation of the analytical method.