Environmental Mission Planner - The Total Solution

"ASW tactical missions require accurate knowledge of the environment to plan and conduct operations, especially in littoral environments. In concert with the planned deployment of the TAM environmental sensor, the Navy needs a Tactical Decision Aid toassist Navy war-fighters on-board aircraft and at ground stations to optimally position these sensors. The TDA will support pre-flight planning, and post-flight analysis and training. It will also support in-flight near real-time updates as measured bythe sonobuoy or retrieved from established environmental databases. The design must investigate cross-platform compatibility and networking, web-enablement, and efficient code development and reuse.This Phase I effort proposes to develop an Environmental Mission Planner that addresses each of these issues. The proposal consists of four key components. The first is the development of an efficient and robust optimal sensor-positioning algorithm. Thesecond is the development of a technique for making the algorithm environmentally robust and viable, especially in information-poor op-areas. The third is the development of an intuitive, easy-to-use web-like GUI providing functionality and alook-and-feel with which today's Navy operator would feel at home. The fourth is the development of a robust data server capable of providing historical environmental data. A number of benefits are anticipated from the work and efforts of this SBIR. Fi