Real-Time Specification of Battlespace Environment

A system is proposed for real-time specification of the Battlespace Environment and integrated sensor management designed to optimize the joint operational capabilities of radio-frequency (RF), electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) sensors in the detection, tracking, surveillance, and characterization of space objects. To meet this objective, we present a framework for integrating phenomenological, empirical, and physics-based sensor impacts models with specifications of the environmental state obtained through local measurements, global data-assimilative models, and climatology. Metrics of sensor impairment will be balanced with sensor capabilities to maximize the efficacy of the system of sensors available to complete the intended mission. In the Phase I effort, we provided real-world scenarios that demonstrate how the performance of RF, EO, and IR sensors can be affected by the environment, both individually and in-concert. The result of our Phase II effort will be a prototype for real-time nowcasting and forecasting of sensor degradation due to a wide variety of environmental phenomena, and a demonstration that integrated sensor management techniques which include space weather effects can improve the performance of globally distributed networks of sensors conducting ground-to-space and space-to-space observations of the Battlespace Environment.