Patent ID: 7508336

Claim:
A method for initiating a target track utilizing a rotating radar antenna having an electronic scanning antenna comprising the steps of: rotating the radar antenna and electronically scanning in azimuth and elevation; and for a given scan, acquiring range (r), elevation (e), and azimuth (a) component measurement data corresponding to multiple detections of a target; generating individual independent component state vectors for each of said r, e, and a measurement components according to one of an at least a CP model, a CV model, and a CA model, selection of said model dependent upon comparison of parameter values of the corresponding component measurement data with a corresponding threshold; composing an initial state vector for an initial target track according to said individual independent component state vectors of said r, e, and a, and their associated covariance component vectors; and applying data corresponding to said initial state vector to a tracking program to allow tracking of said detected target.