Multispectral/Hyperspectral Imaging System for Small Boat Detection under Wake Clusters

The innovation is a Gimbaled Airborne Multi-Sensing Imaging System (GAMSIS) optimized for small boat detection under wake clusters. The system tightly integrates GPS/INS to operate its co-boresighted multi-sensor payload, consisting of an array of fast high resolution Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) cameras capable of multispectral/hyperspectral/polarimetry snapshot over a broad VIS-LWIR range (400-14000nm). GAMSISs innovative signal-selecting optics significantly enhances its imaging qualities, achieving resolution specifications of <6nm spectral, 14bit/band, 30bit HDR, 10cm GSD from 10km, and <25mK Noise Equivalent Differential Temperature (NEDT). Its embedded computing fully exploits fast throughput to generate geospatially registered data for immediate dispatching and multiple Field Of View (FOV) monitoring (3x3, 8x8, & 15x15). GAMSIS gimbaling is actuated by direct drive servomotors without transmission, providing precise gimbaling (<1 arc sec) over a wide FOV (Azimuth 360 continuous; Elevation -30 to 30). GAMSIS weighs under 90lbs, making it portable and deployable to fixed-/rotary-wing platforms. With advantages in snapshot multi-sensing, together with gimbaled multiplying functionalities, GAMSIS is capable of detection, recognition, and identification of low-signal and/or diffraction limited targets in dark, shadow, dusty, noisy, wake, cluttered and dynamic environments over a long range.