Plume Modulation IR Signature For Boost-Phase/Staging Detection And Threat Discrimination (BMDO/00-003E - IR>0.9 microns)

The time-varying plume infra-red (IR) signature modulation provides a marker that allows a plume signal to be discriminated, in frequency space, from a cluttered background. From the perspective of Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), it provides a novelopportunity for Early Launch Detection & Tracking (ELDT) of threat targets. For BMD-related development of guidance sensors for interceptors, the modulation character in a spatially resolved plume acquires increased significance. Absence of a high-fidelityplume signature modulation model has hindered exploitation of this distinctive phenomenon for ELDT & Boost Phase Intercept (BPI). CRAFT Tech proposes development of a first-principles based plume signature temporal modulation model, calibrated by detailedexperiments and flight measurements, and demonstrated via application to liquid and solid propellant fueled threat systems of interest to MDA. The modeling, based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES), provides direct predictions of time-resolved characteristicsof turbulent structures in afterburning plumes. A unique high-throughput, parallel computing architecture seamlessly interfaces the flowfield and radiative transfer modeling to provide corresponding time-resolved IR emission predictions.