Use of prior information in active sonar tracking

A Bayesian tracking model is proposed that uses measurement likelihood functions based on predicted signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) in active sonar data. The predicted SNR modeling can incorporate prior information, such as the presence of known discrete and persistent clutter objects. The likelihood model assumes an exponential distribution of returns with a mean based on the predictive model that incorporates assumed SNR of the targets, known clutter, and background clutter, and the beam response and waveform ambiguity functions. Two variations of an example based on simulated frequency modulated (FM) and continuous wave (CW) signals is used to assess target detection and localization performance. Significant enhancements are observed when prior knowledge of clutter is incorporated into the measurement model in these idealized examples.