INFRARED SEA BACKGROUND MODELING AND MODEL VALIDATION

NICHOLS RESEARCH CORPORATION PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN ACCURATE AND USABLE COMPUTER MODEL FOR PREDICTING THE INFRARED RADIANCE FROM THE SURFACE OF THE SEA AS A FUNCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND THE SEA STATE. THE MODEL WOULD CALCULATE THE THERMAL RADIATION EMITTED FROM THE SEA SURFACE AND THE RADIATION FROM OTHER SOURCES THAT IS REFLECTED BY THE SEA SURFACE. THE REFLECTANCE MODEL WOULD ACCOUNT FOR THE STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL PROFILE OF THE WATER-AIR INTERFACE. TEMPERATURE OF THE WATER NEAR THE INTERFACE WOULD BE MODELED STATISTICALLY BASED ON EMPIRICAL DATA FOR THE LOCALE OF INTEREST. ATMOSPHERIC MODELS WOULD ACCOUNT FOR ATTENUTATION BY AND RADIANCE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE PATH FROM THE SEA SURFACE TO THE SENSOR BEING CONSIDERED. EXISTING MODELS WOULD BE USED WHEREVER POSSIBLE. A VALIDATION PLAN FOR THE COMPUTER MODEL WOULD BE DEVELOPED FOR PHASE-II. THE PLAN WOULD HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEASUREMENTS OF SEA RADIANCE AT VARIOUS CONDITIONS TO VALIDATE THE MODEL, AND FOR INSTRUMENTATION TO COLLECT THE DATA. THE VALIDATION PLAN WOULD INCLUDE A SCHEDULE AND BUDGET FOR THE INSTRUMENTATION ACQUISITION; DATA COLLECTION, REDUCTION AND ANALYSIS, AND CODE VALIDATION.