A method of target discrimination and identification, on a computer including a processing unit and a non-volatile storage device, from a radar signal having a plurality of radar return signals, is presented. The method includes: modeling, on the computer, the radar return signals by linear prediction to produce linear prediction equations; solving, on the computer, the linear prediction equations by the Burg algorithm to produce linear prediction coefficients for a linear prediction coefficient polynomial; computing, on the computer, roots of the linear prediction coefficient polynomial to produce scattering modes; computing, on the computer, a distance of each of the scattering modes to a unit circle; computing, on the computer, a complex envelope for each mode of the scattering modes; and selecting, on the computer, target scattering modes from among the scattering modes based on the distance of the mode to the unit circle and the complex envelope of the mode.