MEASUREMENT OF THE ULTRAVIOLET SIGNATURE OF AN OBJECT

THE VULNERABILITY OF A LOW OBSERVABLE AIRCRAFT TO AN ULTRAVIOLET (UV) SEEKING MISSILE CAN BE DETERMINED BY AN END-TO-END DIGITAL SIMULATION WHICH CONCATENATES EXISTING I-MATH COMPUTER PROGRAMS. THE "VISUAL AND LASER ULTRAVIOLET TO ELECTRO OPTICAL (VALVE)" CODE PRODUCES HIGH FIDELITY 3D SHAPE AND SPECTRAL RADIANCE IMAGES OF AIRCRAFT AND SKY/TERRAIN BACKGROUNDS IN THE 0.1 - 1.0 MICRON SPECTRAL REGION. SIGNIFICANT INPUTS TO VALUE INCLUDE BIDIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE FUNCTION (BDRF) MEASUREMENTS TO BE MADE BY SURFACE OPTICS, INC. AND UV ATMOSPHERIC SCATTERING CHARACTERIZATIONS PROVIDED BY SAIC. THE LATTER WILL INCLUDE BOTH PREDICTIONS FROM THE "DAVE" CODE PLUSE MEASUREMENTS WITH A UV CAMERA WHICH IS CALIBRATED TO NBS-TRACEABLE STANDARDS. UV IMAGES OF A NAVY AIRCRAFT/HELICOPTER AT VARIOUS RANGES,SUN ANGLES, AND OTHER SCENARIO CONDITIONS WILL ALSO BE TAKEN BY SAIC. THESE CALIBRATED IMAGES WILL BE USED TO MODIFY THE VALUE AND DAVE CODES AS NECESSARY, SO THAT THE UV MODELS WILL BE VALIDATED. IN PHASE II, THE VALUE-GENERATED SPECTRAL IMAGES WILL BE INPUT TO THE GENERIC EO SENSOR SIMULATOR, PARAMETERIZED TO REPRESENT AN IMAGING MISSILE TRACKER. IN TURN, AIRCRAFT VULNERABILITY--IN TERMS OF PROBABILITY OF HIT AND MISS DISTANCES-WILL BE PREDICTED USING A MICOM-DEVELOPED 6DOF MISSILE SIMULATION.