INFRA-RED SENSOR CALIBRATION

INFRARED SENSOR CALIBRATION UNCERTAINTIES HAVE RESULTED IN CONFUSION OF FLIGHT TEST DATA FOR SENSORS VIEWING IDENTICAL OBJECTS. THIS HAS LED TO DIVERGENT INTERPRETATIONS OF STRATEGIC TARGET PHENOMENOLOGY IN THE EXO-ATMOSPHERE REGION. THE RESOLUTION OF THIS CONTROVERSY IS CRITICAL TO THE FURTHER MODELING, DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF INFRARED SENSORS FOR STRATEGIC DEFENSE APPLICATIONS. THE CALIBRATION ACCURACY OF FIVE SELECTED STARS IS BEING ANALYZED TO DEVELOP AN INFRARED STELLAR DATABOOK CONTAINING ABSOLUTE STANDARDS FOR USE BY THE INFRAREDCOMMUNITY. THIS ANALYSIS IS CONSIDERING DATA OVER THE 0.2 - 100 MICRON WAVELENGTH REGIONS FROM VARIOUS BASED SENSORS. PRELIMINARY RESULTS SHOW THE CONSISTENCY OF THESE MEASUREMENTS FOR A STAR SUCH AS ALPHA TAU TO BE BETTER THAN 6% (1 SIGMA). THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A SIMPLE BUT FUNDAMENTALLY ACCURATE CALIBRATION SENSOR ARE ALSO BEING DEFINED. THIS SENSOR WOULD ENABLE THE CROSS CALIBRATION OF EXISTING GROUND CHAMBERS, SUCH AS PORTABLE OPTICAL SENSOR TESTER (POST) AND ADVANCED SENSOR EVALUATION AND TEST (ASET), AND LINKING OF THESE CHAMBER CALIBRATIONS WITH THE STELLAR INFRARED STANDARDS. THE ABSOLUTE ACCURACY ACHIEVABLE WITH THIS SENSOR IS ANTICIPATED AT 3% (1 SIGMA). THIS ANALYSIS IS NEEDED BY THE INFRARED COMMUNITY (GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY, UNIVERSITY) TO CONSOLIDATE AND COLLABORATE THE EXISTING INFRARED DATABASE.