On the detection of weak targets that exhibit partial-coherence

The detection of small targets against a background of clutter and interference has long been a challenge to the designer of radar systems. Whilst much progress has been made, there is still a strong motivation to improve performance even further. Specifically here, the detection of targets that are both weak and extended where the signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) is negative is considered. This work examines a novel diversity based coherent integration technique where the coherence is partial.