Sensor performance conversions for infrared target acquisition and intelligence–surveillance–reconnaissance imaging sensors

Target acquisition infrared imaging sensors are characterized by their minimum resolvable temperature parameter that is translated to the probability of identification (Pid) performance estimate for a given target. Intelligence–surveillance–reconnaissance (ISR) sensors are characterized by the general image quality equation to give a national imagery interpretability rating scale (NIIRS) performance estimate. Sensors, such as those on Predator and Global Hawk, will soon be used for both ISR and target acquisition purposes. We present a performance conversion that includes both sensor resolution and sensitivity. We also provide the first empirical results to our knowledge ever to be presented that relate NIIRS and Pid for a given set of targets.