Man-Portable Universal Real-Time Hyperspectral Sensor

To address the Army need for a visible and near-infrared (VNIR) – short wavelength infrared (SWIR) compact hyperspectral sensor in the 400 nm to 2500 nm wavelength window (greater than or equal to 100 spectral bands) for real-time, close-range (less than 1 km), ground-to-ground and low air-to-ground battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance missions, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Man-Portable Universal Real-Time Hyperspectral (MURTHY) sensor as a unique combination of a large-format staring focal-plane-array imager and a novel multispectral data processing algorithm, based on digital terrain models (DTM), line-of-sight analysis (LSA), and hyperspectral algorithms for target identification. The innovations in the MURTHY sensor will enable the system to operate in real-time mode using more than 100 spectral bands from 400 nm to 2300 nm, with further extension to 2500 nm wavelength. Computation for the hyperspectral method is applied to anomaly pixels only and allows real-time mode. In Phase I POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the MURTHY sensor concept and key algorithm elements by mathematical modeling and computer simulation. In Phase II POC plans to develop and test integrated hardware and software set to various nighttime devices to prove the stated concept and algorithms.