Battlefield Enviornment Laser Radar Modeling Tool

Areté Associates has created a software architecture to develop a flexible, user-friendly modeling and simulation tool providing a capability for performance evaluation of direct detection LADAR systems operating in a battlefield environment. The Phase I model requirements analysis, software design and user interface elements will be used in Phase II to develop a standalone C++ application running on standard PC platforms. It will feature a modular, extensible architecture that supports a graduated-fidelity model capability from quick-look analyses to high fidelity simulation. This architecture allows user-selectable control of system models to provide the desired balance between model fidelity and processing speed. The software tool will feature realistic models of battlefield obscurants and clutter, such as fog, rain, smoke, and foliage. It will provide the capability to conduct trade studies involving target acquisition performance, including the effects due to weather, countermeasures, and battlefield obscurants and clutter. Performance measures such as the signal-to-noise ratio, maximum detection range and range error and will be calculated. The tool will prove valuable for analyzing the effectiveness of LADAR sensors in tactical UAV and loitering missile systems.