Peak picking losses in radar detectors

In this paper we analyze the peak picking losses induced by conventional radar signal processors, which assume a point target model for detection and tracking. As demonstrated through simulations, the performance degradation under the point target assumption can be significant for high-resolution radars, where targets extend across several detection cells. Interpolation of nearby data around the detected peak provides only a slight improvement. This paper presents a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) to reduce the peak picking losses. By comparing the variance of the estimator with the Cramer Rao lower bound derived in this paper, it has been shown that the maximum likelihood estimator significantly reduces peak picking losses