Objective In order to address track breakages that commonly occur in occluded environments for marine radar target tracking with an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), it is necessary to comprehensively utilize prior environmental information to improve track continuity when radar detection is occluded.

Methods An occluded integrated probability data association (IPDA) algorithm, known as O-IPDA, is proposed for the real-time prediction of environmental occlusion information. Appropriate use is then made of its low detection probability in combination with a tailored track existence probability transition matrix to maintain target tracking performance.

Results For the application of single target tracking, O-IPDA can avoid target track loss in temporarily occluded environments where its track maintenance ability during occlusion is determined by the corresponding parameters in the existence state transition probability matrix.

Conclusions The proposed O-IPDA algorithm has the potential to address target occlusion in complex maritime environments and can provide useful references for marine radar single target tracking.