Signal-to-Noise Improvement and the Statistics of Track Populations
Nelson Wax · Journal of Applied Physics · 1955
A treatment of the population statistics of signal and of noise patterns, or tracks, is given in this paper. Some idealized and abstract models of tracking procedures are studied; the models are intended to represent the processes encountered in radar tracking and in scanning nuclear emulsions for tracks. The equilibrium track population, the age distribution of the population at equilibrium, and a signal-to-noise improvement factor are obtained for each of the models considered. It is shown that the equilibrium population can be kept to reasonably small values, and the signal-to-noise ratio improved, if effective methods are used to eliminate deteriorating tracks.