Precision Extraction and Characterization of Lines of Communication from Moving Target Indicator (MTI) Data

Extracting Lines of Communication (LOCs) is crucial for mission planning and target interdiction. LOCs consist of unmapped foot trails, dirt roads and rivers / streams in some areas where U.S. forces operate. Forested areas are a particular challenge because optical sensors cannot penetrate foliage. New GMTI radars including FORESTER, ARTEMIS and VADER offer a potential means of extracting LOCs and providing updates as routes change. In Phase I, TSC will extend promising line-fitting algorithms that account for both range and cross-range measurement uncertainy. TSC will also investigate innovative techniques to combine data from multiple collections and to identify the most accurate set of data for input to line-fitting algorithms. In the Base effort, TSC will focus on the challenging problem of extracting trails in forested areas. In the Option, TSC will adapt these techniques to extract roads using the detections of vehicles by higher frequency radars including VADER, AACER, Lynx and/or Joint STARS. In Phase II, TSC will further mature the techniques and test them on collected FORESTER data, as available. TSC will then implement the algorithms in the Army’s SIL for validation testing. In Phase III, TSC will transition the algorithms into DCGS or custom GMTI radar exploitation workstation.