The NRL Optical Sciences Division has initiated a multi-year effort to develop and demonstrate an airborne net-centric suite of multi-intelligence (multi-INT) sensors and exploitation systems for real-time target detection and targeting product dissemination. The goal of this Net-centric Multi-Intelligence Fusion Targeting Initiative (NCMIFTI) is to develop an airborne real-time intelligence gathering and targeting system that can be used to detect concealed, camouflaged, and mobile targets. The multi-INT sensor suite will include high-resolution visible/infrared (EO/IR) dual-band cameras, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors in the visible-to-near infrared, short-wave and long-wave infrared (VNIR/SWIR/LWIR) bands, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), electronics intelligence sensors (ELINT), and off-board networked sensors. Other sensors are also being considered for inclusion in the suite to address unique target detection needs. Integrating a suite of multi-INT sensors on a single platform should optimize real-time fusion of the on-board sensor streams, thereby improving the detection probability and reducing the false alarms that occur in reconnaissance systems that use single-sensor types on separate platforms, or that use independent target detection algorithms on multiple sensors. In addition to the integration and fusion of the multi-INT sensors, the effort is establishing an open-systems net-centric architecture that will provide a modular “plug and play” capability for additional sensors and system components and provide distributed connectivity to multiple sites for remote system control and exploitation.
PHIRST Light is a visible and near-infrared (VNIR) hyperspectral imaging sensor that has been assembled at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) using off-the-shelf components. It consists of a Dalsa 1M60 camera mated to a CRI VariSpec liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) and a conventional 75mm Pentax lens. This system can be thought of as the modern equivalent of a filter-wheel sensor. Historically, the problem with such sensors has been that images for different wavelengths are collected at different times. This causes spectral correlation problems when the camera is not perfectly still during the collection time for all bands (such as when it is deployed on an airborne platform). However, the PHIRST Light sensor is hard mounted in a Twin Otter aircraft, and is mated to a TrueTime event capture board, which records the precise GPS time of each image frame. Combining this information with the output of a CMIGITS INS/GPS unit permits precise coregistration of images from multiple wavelengths, and allows the formation of a conventional hyperspectral image cube. In this paper we present an overview of the sensor and its deployment, describe the processing steps required to produce coregistered hyperspectral cubes, and show detection results for targets viewed during the Aberdeen Collection Experiment (ACE).
The following paper describes a recent data collection exercise in which the WAR HORSE visible-near-infrared hyperspectral imaging sensor and IRON HORSE short-wave-infrared hyperspectral imaging sensor were employed in the collection of wide-area hyperspectral data sets. A preliminary analysis of the data has been performed and results are discussed.
The following paper describes a recent data collection exercise in which the WAR HORSE visible-near-infrared hyperspectral sensor was employed in the collection of wide- area hyperspectral data sets. Two anomaly detection algorithms, Subspace RX (SSRX) ans Gaussian Spectral Clustering (GSC), were used on the data and their performance is discussed.
In recent years the Optical Sciences Division, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been involved in the development of real-time hyperspectral detection, cueing, target location, and target designation capabilities. Under the Dark HORSE program it was demonstrated that a hyperspectral sensor could be used for the autonomous, real- time detection of airborne and military ground targets. This work has culminated in WAR HORSE, an autonomous real-time visible hyperspectral target detection system that has been configured for us on a Predator Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). The sensor system provides Predator with the ability to detect manmade objects in areas of natural background. The system consists of a visible hyperspectral imaging sensor, a real-time signal processor, a high-resolution visible line scan camera, an interface and control software application, and a data storage medium. The system is coupled to an on- board GPS/INS to provide target geo-location information and relevant data is transmitted to a ground station using line- of-sight down-link capabilities. The presented paper will provide an overview of the WAR HORSE sensor system hardware components and their integration aboard a Predator UAV. In addition, the results of a recently completed demonstration aboard the Predator UAV will be provided. This demonstration represents the first autonomous real-time hyperspectral target detection system to flown aboard a Predator UAV.
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