Target tracking in maneuver centered coordinates

Aircraft targets normally maneuver on circular paths which has led to tracking filters based on circular turns. The authors introduce a new coordinate system to track circular maneuvers with a simple Kalman filter. When the maneuver is detected the tracker switches to a polar coordinate system located at the center of the maneuver. The state vector will then have radius, angle, and angular velocity as its components. This makes the process equation linear, allowing a simple Kalman filter to be used throughout the turn. The center of maneuver is estimated with each new measurement to adjust for possible changes. This investigation also examines maneuver detection methods and how they apply to the circular tracking problem. The method is then compared to the methods of Y. Bar-Shalom and K. Birmiwal (1982) and P.L. Bogler (1987) on various circular paths. The resulting algorithm displays improved performance over methods based on constant x-y accelerations when tracing circular turns