Signature characteristics and discrimination of small airborne targets with a staring radar

In this chapter, we briefly describe the staring radar concept and show how it can be used to detect and discriminate drones against a severe background of other targets such as birds and ground clutter. In particular, the time-varying responses from drones and competing targets are examined, highlighting inherent differences that can be exploited for discriminating between detected/tracked objects. The relationship between a staring radar mode of operation, target echo attributes and their exploitation for classification is examined. Throughout, examples from real-world measurements will be used to illustrate the form and dynamic nature of complex echoes as well as demonstrating the target-recognition performance with a supervised-learning-based approach.