THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSOR ILLUMINATION DISPLAYS IN SUPPORT OF NAVAL WARFARE TACTICAL DECISION AIDS

ADVANCED GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION FEATURES OF THE X WINDOWS SYSTEM VERSION X11R5 AND/OR OTHER EMERGING 3-D GRAPHICS LANGUAGES WILL BE EXPLOITED TO DEVELOP A THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3-D) SENSOR ILLUMINATION DISPLAY. THE 3-D SENSOR ILLUMINATION DISPLAY WILL USE A COLLECTION OF 3-D TOOLS TO BE DEVELOPED AS PART OF THIS PROJECT (E.G., LIGHTING, SHADING, TRANSPARENCY, TEXTURE) IN ORDER TO CREATE A DISPLAY THAT PRESENTS SENSOR PERFORMANCE IN A FASHION ANALOGOUS TO ILLUMINATION CAUSED BY A LIGHT SOURCE. THE RESULTANT DISPLAY WILL PRESENT STATIC (STATIONARY SENSOR) AND DYNAMIC (MOVING SENSOR) DEPICTIONS OF PERFORMANCE FOR A SINGLE SENSOR OR COMBINATION OF SENSORS WITH COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE VIEWER'S VANTAGE POINT. THE SENSOR COVERAGE WILL BE DISPLAYED IN AN INTUITIVE AND EASY-TO-INTERPRET FORMAT THAT WILL SIMPLIFY AND STREAMLINE THE RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND TACTICAL DECISION PROCESSESS. THE 3-D SENSOR ILLUMINATION DISPLAY WILL ASSIST WARFARE COMMANDERS IN OPTIMALLY EMPLOYING PLATFORM/SENSOR RESOURCES AND MAKING TACTICAL DECISIONS IN A VARIETY OF NEAR-LAND WARFARE SCENARIOS. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVE FOR THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON IDENTIFICATION OF 3-D GRAPHICS PACKAGES THAT MAY BE USEFUL IN THE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, ESTABLISHMENT OF AN APPROPRIATE 3-D TOOLKIT, AND DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE SINGLE-SENSOR ACTIVE SENAR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT DISPLAY.