Statistical models for the lidar technology: false alarms, receiver operating characteristic curves, and Swerling models

Abstract

We argue for the integration of the statistical models already widely used in radar technology into lidar technology. The aim is to assess the validity or degree of confidence of an alert to be issued in view of not overloading the pilot with nuisance alerts. We present the basics of the detection theory. We give three examples of simulations illustrating the use of these statistical models either for designing lidars or for preparing lidar missions. We describe the simulator having been developed and used. We also present the idea of developing mixtures of statistical models as an approach to thresholding and object classification at mission time. Some experimental data are presented to validate both the simulator output and the use of mixtures of models for object segmentation or classification.