SCENES WITH HIGH BACKGROUND CLUTTER

BOTH SPACE-BASED AND ADVANCED CONUS-BASED BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM CONCEPTS REQUIRE THAT ATTACKING REENTRY VEHICLES (RVS) BE DETECTED AND TRACKED AT LONG RANGES TO ENABLE THE DEFENSE TO PERFORM ITS MISSION. CURRENT CONCEPTS FEATURE PASSIVE INFRARED SCANNING OR STARING MOSAIC SENSORS SYSTEMS TO DETECT RVS FROM AIRBORNE PLATFORMS AND BALLISTIC MISSILE PLUMES SATELLITES. WE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF A NEW POINT SOURCE DETECTION ALGORITHM, KNOWN AS PHASE-ONLY IMAGING, TO DETECT RVS AGAINST AN EARTH BACKGROUND FROM SPACE AND TO DETECT THEM THROUGH HIGH-ATITUDE NUCLEAR REDOUT CLUTTER FROM AIRCRAFT. THESE SITUATIONS RESULT IN HIGH INFRARED BACKGROUND REDIATION LEVELS WITH SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURE WHICH OVERWHELM THE SMALL RV SIGNATURES. PHASE-ONLY IMAGING TECHNIQUES, WICH POSSES THE IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF REDUNDANCY REMOVAL AND POINT SOURCE ENHANCEMENT, HOLD GREAT PROMISE FOR GREATLY REDUCING CLUTTER BACKGROUNDS INDEPENDENT OF THE CLUTTER STRUCTURE. WE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE PHASE-ONLY IMAGE TECHNIQUES FOR RV DETECTION AND TO DETERMINE THE SENSOR AND SIGNAL PROCESSING CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS AND TECHNOLOG LEVELS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT THESE TECHNIQUES IN BMD SYSTEM CONSTRUCTS.