SYNTHETIC GENERATION OF DYNAMIC INFRARED SCENES

COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SYNTHETIC SCENE GENERATION SYSTEMS WILL BE INVESTIGATED AS A BASELINE SYSTEM FROM WHICH INFRARED IMAGERY CAN BE CREATED. TRADEOFFS WILL BE MADE REGARDING THE SCENE REALISM REQUIRED FOR SENSOR EVALUATION AND THE COST TO ACHIEVE THIS REALISM. REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURES OF VARIOUS TERRAINS, TERRAIN FEATURES AND TARGETS WILL BE CREATED THAT PRESENT THE THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF EACH, THEIR INTERACTION WITH EACH OTHER AND THE EFFECTS OF LOCATION, DIURNAL CYCLE, WEATHER, ETC. AS WELL AS INHERENT CHARACTERISTICS. EXISTING MATHEMATICAL MODELS WILL BE UTILIZED AND NEW MODELS DEVELOPED THAT CHARACTERIZE THE EFFECTS OF ATMCSPHERE, PLATFORM STABILITY. SENSOR PARAMETERS AND DISPLAY/OPERATOR INTERFACE. THE INFRARED SCERIE GENERATOR AND MATH MODELS WILL BE INTERFACED AND WILL PERMIT DYNAMIC EVALUATION OF SENSOR PERFORMANCE UNDER VARYING SCENARIOS. THE ABILITY TO VARY THESE CONDITIONS AND LOCALES WILL ALSO ALLOW FOR MISSION PLANNING AND POTENTIALLY LEAD TO PREDICTIONS ON PROBABILITY OF MISSION SUCCESS.