Abstract: A novel method of direction finding estimation based on Bayesian theory is derived. It is established on the expected value of the theoretical spatial spectrum over the joint posterior density function of the array output signal and noise parameters. It possesses the following advantages. (a)Its resolution ability is much higher than that of the bearing estimators presented so far. (b)It can solve coherent sources. (c)It performs well in low SNR and short snapshots. (d)It provides the power of each source from spatial spectrum. Monte Carlo simulations have been done to verify the advantages of this method.

Key words: Bayesian est imat ion, h igh-reso lut ion technique, direct ion finding