Ballistic Coefficient Estimation for Classification of Projectiles

The ballistic coefficient is a measure of a projectile’s ability to overcome air resistance. Because the motion equations of the projectile are functions of the ballistic coefficient, several studies estimating the projectile’s ballistic coefficient have been conducted to track its trajectory. In this paper, two methods are proposed to estimate the ballistic coefficient for classification of the projectile. The primary techniques used are the extended Kalman filter and ordinary differential equation parameter estimation. The true projectile trajectory is created via simulation, and the proposed method is used to estimate the ballistic coefficient. Furthermore their performances are compared and analyzed.