Rain clutter mitigation based on the Spectral Flatness Measure in surveillance radar

Neuton Severo Farias, Leandro Guimarães Figueroa Pralon, Bruno Pompeo, Pedro Sega

DOI: 10.14209/sbrt.2025.1571151671

Evento: XLIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Telecomunicações e Processamento de Sinais (SBrT2025)

Keywords: radar spectral flatness rain clutter

Abstract

Radar systems are devices mainly used to detect and estimate the kinematic characteristics of targets of interest. Unlike optical sensors, radar systems operate effectively under adverse weather conditions and in the absence of light. Nevertheless, in cases of heavy precipitation, radar performance can be significantly degraded. Reflections from raindrops may generate false targets, while the resulting attenuation can obscure actual targets. To address this, various methods have been proposed for rain clutter mitigation in surveillance radars, most of which rely on stochastic models tailored to specific weather conditions. Unfortunately, any mismatch between the actual weather and the assumed model may significantly impair detection performance. In this context, the present work proposes a model-independent approach to rain clutter mitigation based on the spectral flatness of the received signal. Real data collected from the Brazilian Army's SABER M200 Vigilante radar system were used to validate the proposed method. Its effectiveness in eliminating false targets while preserving true target detections is evaluated, and conclusions are drawn regarding its practical applicability.

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