Improved Real Time Geo-Registration Techniques For Airborne Imagery

ABSTRACT: Toyon Research Corporation proposes research and development of advanced algorithms to provide accurate real-time geo-registration of airborne imagery collected by EO/IR surveillance systems, including wide area motion imagery (WAMI) systems such as ARGUS, Gorgon Stare, and Blue Devil. The proposed algorithms perform tightly-coupled processing to fuse information from typical navigation system sensors with information derived from the EO/IR surveillance imagery. The proposed algorithms also fuse information from GPS and/or reference geo-registered imagery, to provide improved accuracy and robust operation in scenarios where GPS may not be available, or may be available only intermittently. The proposed development is designed to result in implementation of a Phase II prototype capable of real-time processing within size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints of the airborne sensor platform. Integration and demonstration with Air Force and other DoD systems is also planned for Phase II. BENEFIT: The successful completion of this research and development will result in improved capabilities for correlating, fusing, and exploiting multi-sensor EO/IR ISR imagery in a layered sensing framework. Significant benefits are expected in military applications where coordination among multiple airborne and ground assets is necessary and real-time performance is critical. In particular, this technology addresses the mismatch in precision between guided weapons and the target location systems used to select targets. Although the military is the primary customer with a need for precise location information from mobile sensors, smaller scale operations would be able to use these capabilities along borders, near ports, or along the coastline to monitor for illegal or terrorist activities. Potential commercial applications include many police or homeland security applications. Geo-registration is also fundamental to commercial augmented reality applications.