Detection performance loss due to jitter in naval IRST systems

Infrared search and track (IRST) systems based on 3-D velocity filters are quite sensitive to the random motion that remains after egomotion compensation has occurred (jitter). These systems are designed to detect small targets at long range and they often employ track-before-detect (TBD) strategies to integrate the target signal along consecutive frames. Jitter causes frame misalignment and leads to a reduction of the detection performance. We analyze the effects of jitter on the false alarm and detection probabilities and on the detection range. The analytical expressions here derived are a valuable tool both in the analysis and synthesis of IRST systems based on 3-D velocity filters.