Atmospheric effects in infrared target acquisition modeling

Keith Krapels, Ronald G. Driggers, Richard H. Vollmerhausen, David H. Tofsted

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of ultra-narrow field of view (UNFOV) infrared target acquisition (TA) systems, and the development of range-gated laser illuminated short-wave infrared (SWIR) imagers has increased the importance of accounting for atmospheric affects in TA models. The performance of these systems are frequently limited by the atmosphere, instead of the camera resolution or sensitivity characteristics. First generation and second generation FLIRs were less susceptible to atmospheric limitations due both to their standard operating method and relative lower resolution. The approach taken to the atmosphere's contribution to TA modeling has been incremental and systematic. The current TA model, NVTherm, includes signal attenuation by the atmosphere. The fidelity of this model has been improved by adding a MODTRAN module and calculation of spectrally weighted transmissions. The Fall 2001 release of the model will include a linear shift invariant (LSI) MTF for atmospheric turbulence blur that was verified from field-testing last year. Additionally, it will include the effects of turbulence distortion on observer performance developed from perception experiments conducted this month. This paper discusses the model's atmospheric components, past efforts to validate a turbulence blur model, current efforts to model turbulence distortion effects, and intended future work to include additional atmospheric effects.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)182-193
Number of pages12
JournalProceedings of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume4372
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Atmosphere
  • Performance modeling
  • Target Acquisition
  • Turbulence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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