Development of a Two Color Polarimetric Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Camera System

The Army has identified the need to enhance existing reconnaissance and surveillance platforms by utilizing emerging sensor technologies to support both domestic and national security operations. Situational awareness imagery has become a vital tool for locating, identifying and helping to neutralize threats. However, recent US military experience in IRAQ as well as illegal entry into the US across national borders, vividly demonstrates the need for improvements in this type of imagery. Furthermore, the urgency of these threats demands quick, cost effective solutions that can be easily integrated into existing systems without loss of current functionality. One very promising enhancement is polarimetric imagery. Additional information, not available in visible and infrared imagery, is gained by producing a polarimetric image of a scene. An even greater potential exists when combining polarization imagery from two different wavebands. Kord Technologies and Digital Fusion plan to study the feasibility of developing a compact ruggedized two color polarimetric sensor. The proposed solution involves leveraging a dual band (MWIR/LWIR) infrared sensor developed and already fielded by a prime DoD contractor. The primary design effort will center on bonding (or fabricating) a micro-polarizer array (MPA) to the infrared focal plane array (FPA).