SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal addresses the problem of identifying and testing clutter suppression techniques and implementing algorithms for detection of targets imbedded in cluttered terrain backgrounds. Tactical remote sensing systems such as Warfighter must carry out their target detection and identification mission against a wide variety of earth background scenes having an as yet undetermined range of clutter properties. Hence, such sensors must be capable of utilizing the spectral, temporal, and spatial dimensions of the target signature while rejecting or mitigating the background clutter. In order to optimize the sensor performance against widely ranging, sometimes poorly defined engagement scenarios, it is necessary to account for the effects of sensor system optical and electronic performance on implementation of clutter suppression and target signal optimization techniques. The process of implementing and optimizing clutter suppression algorithms for proposed tactical testbeds such as MightySat and Warfighter must also address practical systems considerations such as sensor and signal processing complexity, cost, and on-orbit weight and power utilization required for combined sensor and target detection signal processing system. The proposed research will identify and test one or more innovative clutter suppression algorithms in the context of the Warfighter sensor scenario.

Benefits:
The anticipated commercial applications of this research are background scene content recognition and discrimination models and algorithms based upon the clutter rejection algorithms which are the subject of this SBIR research.

This Phase II SBIR proposal addresses the problem of testing and applying the clutter suppression techniques developed during the Phase I project to space based infrared and visible spectral and hyperspectral imaging systems. The goal of the Phase II effort is to implement clutter mitigation algorithms which can be applied to a variety of space based systems such as WARFIGHTER and SBIRS, and unmanned tactical remote sensing systems, which require efficient and effective real-time clutter characterization and suppression. Real-time algorithms tests will be carried out for these systems using realistic system hardware configurations. This second phase SBIR proposal builds on the innovative techniques devised during the first phase program for effective spatial and spectral clutter characterization and rejection. We have demonstrated several approaches to clutter characterization and rejection which are applicable to space-borne spectral and hyperspectral sensors and will test these algorithms in real time processors simulating WARFIGHTER/MIGHTYSAT II.1 and other systems. Three test levels are proposed: brassboard tests using the thew FTHSI hyperspectral sensor testbed developed by Kestrel Corp., flight tests simulating BTH operations or SBIRS-HI, airborne reconnaissance systems, and certain types of seeker systems, and tests using the Mightysat II.I space prototype data system which wll be applied to WARFIGHTER.