URBAN WARFARE DIGITAL DATABASE

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HAS IDENTIFIED THE INCREASING LIKELIHOOD OF COMBAT IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS. RECENT YEARS ARE RICH WITH EXAMPLES OF THE MILITARY'S NEED TO PERFORM SUCCESSFULLY IN BUILT-UP AREAS. THE LOGISTICS REQUIREMENTS UNIQUE TO A MILITARY OPERATION IN AN URBAN AREA CALL FOR CAREFUL PLANNING AND WELL TRAINED, WELL REHEARSED FORCES. CREATING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF THE AREA OF INTEREST FACILITIES THIS LEVEL OF PREPARATION. A DIGITAL MODEL THAT NOT ONLY DISPLAYS THE VISUAL CHARACTER OF A SCENE FROM ANY VIEW ANGLE, BUT ALSO CONTAINS FEATURES INCLUDING BUILDING OR ROADWAY DIMENSIONS MAY BE USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF ISSUES SUCH AS LINE-OF-SIGHT, AREA ACCESS, AND FORCE MOVEMENT AMONG OTHERS. A RAPID AUTOMATED PROCEDURE TO CREATE SUCH TOPOGRAPHIC/FEATURE DATABASES IN A TIME OF CRISIS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE GOAL OF THIS EFFORT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING THE CONNECTION MACHINE, A PARALLEL SUPERCOMPUTER AND SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE APPROACHES SUCH AS STEREO IMAGE ANALYSIS AND FRACTAL ANALYSIS TO CREATE MODELS OF URBAN AREAS FOR USE IN MILITLARY PLANNING AND TRAINING.