Comparative Analysis of Two Approaches for Multipath Ghost Suppression in Radar Imaging

Abstract

Radar imaging is typically based on linear models of the electromagnetic scattering phenomenon. These models are robust and computationally efficient, but do not account for mutual interactions among targets in the scene and between the targets and the surrounding environment. As a result, the radar images are characterized by spurious targets, i.e., multipath ghosts, which appear at positions where no physical targets exist. In this letter, we compare two key approaches for clutter suppression. The first approach applies multiplicative fusion of the images corresponding to subapertures of the deployed array, whereas the second approach is based on coherence factor filtering, which enhances the image quality by suppressing low-coherence features. We assess the performance of these two methods in terms of imaging and detection capabilities. Numerical results based on synthetic data are reported to support the comparative analysis.