Spectro-radiometrically Programmable LWIR Scene Projector for HSI Field Calibration

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) will develop a Spectro-Radiometrically Programmable InfraRed Scene Projector (SRP-IRSP) that addresses DTRA’s requirements for a field calibration capability for longwave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral imagers (HSIs) performing passive chemical vapor plume imaging.  The SRP-IRSP will specifically enable quantitative simulation of chemical plumes of dynamically commandable radiometric parameters/temperature differentials and mass concentrations in operationally relevant background scenes and release mechanisms.  The proposed capability is programmable for the chemical of interest at mass concentrations associated with release of 10 g to >10 kg and can project thermal contrast in both absorption and emission with DT of 1-15K.  The resulting capability enables calibration, training and validation for LWIR HSIs in an efficient and streamlined manner without the uncertainty and logistics of an actual chemical release. Our solution has the following key features and associated enabling capabilities:       Spans the LWIR fingerprint spectral range enabling calibration/training/validation for virtually any vapor phase chemical of interest;   Employs a DMD-enabled spectral engine with 10 cm-1 resolution to project a spectrally and spatially representative steerable region of interest (ROI) defining the spatial extent of the plume; Projects background field of regard (FOR) with 512×384 spatial format of typical release scenes (such as Dugway Proving Ground).