Track covariance consistency compensation performance

Oliver E. Drummond; David Dana-Bashian

doi:10.1117/12.830649

Abstract

The primary components of a target track are the estimated state vector and its error variance-covariance matrix (or simply the covariance). The estimated state indicates the location and motion of the target. The track covariance is intended to indicate the uncertainty or inaccuracy of the target state estimate. The covariance is computed by the track processor and may or may not realistically indicate the inaccuracy of the state estimate. Covariance Consistency is the property that a computed variance-covariance matrix realistically represents the covariance of the actual errors of the estimate. The computed covariance of the state estimation error is used in the computations of the data association processing function and the estimation filter; consequently, degraded track consistency might cause misassociations (correlation errors) and degraded filter processing that can degrade track performance. The computed covariance of the state estimation error is also used by downstream functions, such as the network-level resource management functions, to indicate the accuracy of the target state estimate. Hence, degraded track consistency can mislead those functions and the war fighter about the accuracy of each target track. In the development of target trackers, far more attention has been given to improving the accuracy of the estimated target state than in improving the track covariance consistency. This paper addresses covariance compensation to reduce the degradation of consistency due to potential misassociations in measurement fusion using single-frame data association. The compensation approach used is also applicable to other fusion approaches and to tracking with data from a single sensor. This paper also shows how this compensation approach can be applied to a wide variety of data association algorithms.

Citation Download Citation

Oliver E. Drummond, Oliver E. Drummond, David Dana-Bashian, David Dana-Bashian, } "Track covariance consistency compensation performance", Proc. SPIE 7445, Signal and Data Processing of Small Targets 2009, 74450N (4 September 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.830649; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.830649

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