Classification of free rigid targets with micro‐motions using inertial characteristic from radar signatures

The potential of an object's inertial characteristic is studied for the purpose of classification of free rigid targets in radar. Through the estimation of micro‐motion parameters from micro‐Doppler signals, the inertial characteristic can be further obtained. It is an intrinsic property of the targets themselves, and essentially independent of their diverse micro‐motion states. Then a simple Bayesian classifier is adopted to make the target discrimination. Numerical results and analysis finally show that the inertia‐based feature performs better than classic time–frequency and micro‐dynamic characteristics in the classification application.