Phelps2020 proposes a multi-sensor system (SAFE) that passively increases operational distances in the maritime environment in the presence of dense fog. The system comprises multiple modalities (EO, SWIR, LWIR) operating in various modes (temporal, multi-spectral, and polarized), and orchestrated via an optimized set of algorithms within a decision making fusion framework. Our solution involves the use of Consumer Off-the-Shelf (COTS) sensors together with proprietary novel algorithms to detect fog and measure visibility distances from EO and IR data. The masking effects of fog are then alleviated via adaptive enhancements to increase visibility by a tenfold. Illumination, color, and heat contrast issues are also resolved via powerful algorithms for quality and interpretability improvement. A multi-parameter fusion is used to jointly optimize sensor usage, guide sensor cueing, selection, addition, or removal according to various reliability and confidence criteria. SAFE is originally targeted to reside onboard military ships at sea, but it will also be a great addition to commercial ships to improve navigation, prevent accidents, and minimize delays. Additional applications are found in other military, government, and civilian domains, via minor customization. One such example is the use of SAFEs software engine with existing sensor turrets on-board manned and unmanned aerial systems.
Benefit: The original application is the improvement of operational distances for ships in the presence of dense sea fog. This will help with ISRT, battlefield management and assessment and will eventually save lives and give our Navy an edge over the enemy. All DOD components (Navy, Air Force, and Army), need ISRT and suffer from the presence of obscurants. Obscurants can be a major hindrance to threat detection, battlefield assessment, helicopter and other aerial systems during landing and in conducting reconnaissance missions. The same need to see better and further is valid for commercial ships in maritime navigation to help avoid accidents, save time and money. A customized version of SAFE can be flown on manned and unmanned aerial systems as well. The software engine can be adapted to existing sensor systems for on-line or forensic data exploitation. This extends to the commercial sector for traffic monitoring, accident prevention, and the multitude of surveillance and UAV applications .
Keywords: surveillance, surveillance, Multispectral, IR, EO, Visibility, Polarization, obscurants, Fog
