Efficient Techniques for Construction of Radar MTI Simulation Databases

The enormous potential for a space based radar (SBR) ground moving target indicator (GMTI) systems has fostered continuing interest in the fielding of a GMTI SBR by the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Research Laboratory and by other Government agencies. Advanced physics based modeling and simulation will play a critical role in various aspects of SBR development including design, systems engineering and assessment of military utility. Sophisticated SBR simulations exist, but in order to be useful, extensive databases which represent the simulated terrain background under consideration are required. Three essential elements must be captured in these databases: a mapping of ground clutter, topography and a delineation of highly reflective linear features. Information which can be used to generate these databases is available directly from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in the form of pre-processed GIS coverage layers which can be merged with DEM's to create regional scale simulation databases. However, creating the large databases required to address SBR problems remains difficult and time consuming. Our approach is to build tools to simplify and automate these processes by creating task specific enhancements for the industry standard ArcMap product; a path which will also provide a means to readily commercialize the product.