Patent attributes
An apparatus for detecting a dispersive object in non-dispersive clutter comprising a multi-frequency radar, a signal processor which computes the elapsed time between when each frequency is transmitted and that same frequency is received and the dispersion statistics related to the several frequencies. A dispersion analyzer produces a dispersive object discrimination value which is compared with a threshold by which a detection is declared. The apparatus also utilizes dispersion statistics to differentiate between dispersive and non-dispersive radar returns in order to reject the non-dispersive signals and pass the dispersive signals to a signal integrator which increases the signal-to-clutter ratio thereby improving the probability of detection of subsequent target detection processes.