Sensor Fusion for Air-to-Ground Precision Targeting

Data Fusion Corporation proposes the Phase I investigation of integrated sensor management and information fusion of distributed sensor resources among flights of tactical aircraft for air-to-ground operations. This effort will examine using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensors in conjunction with internetted aircraft, inertial navigation (INS), and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Key elements will be the systematic exploitation, management, and fusion of SAR and FLIR imagery to improve the accuracy of fire control solutions for ground targets. The effort will focus on four main technical areas. First, invariant theory, for performing point transfers, will be extended to the statistical case for SAR and FLIR fusion. Invariant theory is especially powerful since it does not require ground truth or knowledge of the imaging geometry. Second, a method for intersecting measurements probabilistically will be employed to reduce false alarms in high clutter scenarios. Third, the effort will consider operational and sensor management issues such as cueing of FLIR from SAR or off-board assets. Finally, an error model and preliminary performance estimates will be created that integrate the sensors, the developed methods for fusion, and the capabilities of INS/GPS navigation.