Environmental Characterization for Target Acquisition. Report 2. Analysis of Thermal and Visible Imagery

• Main Authors: Sabol, Bruce M, Rivera, Salvador, Jr
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active & Passive Radar Detection & Equipment; ATR(AUTOMATIC TARGET RECOGNITION); AUTOMATIC; AUTOMATIC TARGET RECOGNITION; AUTOMATION; COMPUTER PROGRAMS; Cybernetics; DATA ACQUISITION; FIELD TESTS; GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM; GROUND TRUTH; HELICOPTERS; HIGH SENSITIVITY; IMAGE METRICS; IMAGE PROCESSING; INFRARED IMAGES; LASER TARGET DESIGNATORS; MEASUREMENT; MILLIMETER WAVES; OPTICAL DETECTION; Optical Detection and Detectors; RADAR; RANGE FINDING; RECONNAISSANCE; RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT; SENSITIVITY; TARGET ACQUISITION; Target Direction, Range and Position Finding; TARGET RECOGNITION; TARGETS; TERRAIN; TERRAIN CONDITIONS; TEST AND EVALUATION; TEST FACILITIES; THERMAL IMAGES; THERMAL INFRARED IMAGERY; TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS; VISIBLE IMAGERY; WEATHER; WEATHER DATA. DECISION TREES

Automated/Aided Target Recognition (ATR) systems are being developed for client and next generation attack and reconnaissance helicopters. Part of the development cycle consists of testing and evaluation of the systems at field test facilities within the United States. Preliminary tests of ATR systems have demonstrated a high sensitivity to terrain and environmental conditions. Testers and analysts must therefore have an understanding of the relationship between system performance and terrain/environmental conditions to plan tests and interpret data. To develop an understanding of this relationship, the Environmental Characterization for Target Acquisition (ECTA) Program was initiated. As part of this program, visible and thermal infrared imagery, meteorological data and terrain characterization data were systematically collected from six different U.S. sites for different times of year and times of day. This report describes analysis procedures for evaluating the relationships between the sites' ground-truth measurements and statistical characteristics of resulting imagery. Results of these analyses are presented and discussed. Original contains color plates: All DTIC and NTIS reproductions will be in black and white.