Advanced Scene Generation Techniques

Ballistic missile boost phase transients occurring at launch, during flight, and immediately after shutdown generates distinct observable features that can help as well as hinder the defense against these systems. On the positive side, these features provide important intelligence information showing system operational mechanisms and timelines critical for launch detection, system identification, and mission. On the negative side, these features can adversely affect the performance of guided weapon systems tasked to destroy the missile if the weapon has not been designed to recognize and deal with the event. This effort takes a first-principles physics approach to characterize the observable features of boost-phase transients that is suitable to support intelligence analysis as well as to properly test guided weapon systems. This approach utilizes state-of-the-disciple flowfield models for low-altitude continuum flowfields using CRUNCH CFDr and high-altitude rarified flowfields using SOCRATES. These high-fidelity flowfield models will be interfaced to the newly developed optical scene generation code, FLITES, which will be extended to efficiently perform radiance transport calculations through complex transient flowfields from any observer location, optical sensor band, and instance of time. The desired end state is a capability that generates continuous sensor imagery simulating launch to burnout operation of ballistic missiles.