Turn rate estimation using range rate measurements for fast manoeuvring tracking

In critical tracking problems, it is important to follow fast manoeuvring targets and use each measurement at disposal to best estimate a fast curvilinear trajectory. The turn rate is important to that end, but it is not generally available for measurements in radar systems. This study develops a method that uses the information of the range rate, typically a fairly accurate measurement, together with the coordinate point measurement, in order to improve the turn rate estimation. It introduces an estimation method that applies a compatibility check between the range rate measurement and the estimated velocity projection on the range direction. Disagreement between these quantities indicates a turn rate change, leading to one step corrections. The particle filter combined with best linear unbiased estimator filters is used to improve state estimations and likelihood functions and the corrections are introduced independently to each particle. For comparisons, a method from the literature and the proposed method are implemented, tested and compared. Performance error analysis indicates the effectiveness of the present method for fast manoeuvrers.