Vessel Tracking Using Bistatic Compact HFSWR

Bistatic and multi-static high-frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR) is becoming a prospective development trend for sea surface surveillance due to its potential in extending the coverage area, improving the detection accuracy, etc. In this paper, the vessel detection and tracking performance of a newly developed bistatic compact HFSWR system whose transmitting and receiving antennas are not co-located was investigated. Firstly, the representation of the target range and Doppler velocity concerning a bistatic HFSWR was derived and compared with that of a monostatic system. Next, taking the characteristics of target kinematic parameters into account, a target tracking method applicable to a bistatic HFSWR is proposed. The simultaneous target tracking results from both monostatic and bistatic HFSWR field data are presented and compared. The experimental results demonstrate the good performance in target tracking of the bistatic HFSWR and also show that an HFSWR system combining monostatic and bistatic modes has the potential to enhance the target track continuity and improve the detection accuracy.