ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: ABSTRACT: Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) is emerging as a key enabling technology fo

Description

ABSTRACT: Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) is emerging as a key enabling technology for new defense applications. It can address many militarily-relevant targets and missions by detecting and tracking signals of interest across a range of lengthscales and timescales. Specifically in the short-wave (SWIR) wavelengths, OPIR can observe stationary, slow-moving, or fast-moving targets and provide tactical parameter estimates. The proposed effort will develop algorithms for real-time processing onboard OPIR platforms which will extract increasingly subtle signatures (smaller and/or dimmer targets) in more challenging clutter environments. The effort will focus initially on demonstrating an algorithm chain for preprocessing, clutter suppression, and track-before-detect processing. Several important mission sets would be addressed by integrating algorithms to mitigate multiple sources of noise and clutter in OPIR data. Future systems could generate a stream of geolocated detections, rapidly delivered to analysts and warfighters, supporting higher-level data analysis and trend detection, cueing and fusion with other sensors. Down the road, more sophisticated onboard processing will allow multiple sensor platforms to coordinate in real time as a system-of-systems, further improving geolocation and characterization. This technology would be transitioned by integrating into a future flight test or other proof-of-concept demonstration, as well as integrating into ground processing for existing systems. BENEFIT: This real-time image processing chain would enable overhead imaging platforms to process data immediately after it is acquired, before it is transmitted to a ground station. Onboard algorithms could improve the quality and relevance of the imagery, reduce the need to transmit wideband information, and provide inputs to future autonomous or semi-autonomous system concepts. A successful track-before-detect algorithm would address a range of noise sources endemic to OPIR data, and could be adapted to commercial applications at other wavelengths. Commercial aerial and satellite imaging systems could use the technologies developed here to assess traffic conditions, monitor high-value assets, or detect environmental changes.