Feature extraction of micro-motion frequency and the maximum wobble angle in a small range of missile warhead based on micro-Doppler effect

Micro-Doppler effect is induced by the micro-motion dynamics of the radar target itself or any structure on the target. In this paper, a simplified cone-shaped model for ballistic missile warhead with micro-nutation is established, followed by the theoretical formula of micro-nutation is derived. It is confirmed that the theoretical results are identical to simulation results by using short-time Fourier transform. Then we propose a new method for nutation period extraction via signature maximum energy fitting based on empirical mode decomposition and short-time Fourier transform. The maximum wobble angle is also extracted by distance approximate approach in a small range of wobble angle, which is combined with the maximum likelihood estimation. By the simulation studies, it is shown that these two feature extraction methods are both valid even with low signal-to-noise ratio.