Radar measurements analysis for spatial object classification

Abstract

This paper presents a method for estimating orbital parameters of spatial objects detected with a ground based radar dedicated to space surveillance. The radar objective are twofold: detection; classification of the detected objects. We firstly describe how the orbit determination is performed using radar acquisitions (right ascension, declination, range and Doppler). We then present the procedure of differentiation between different spatial objects (satellites, ballistic weapons...) on real time applications. An analysis of the influence of noise and of the samples number in the accuracy of this procedure is also presented.