Evaluating the performance of reflective band imaging systems (a tutorial)

At NVESD, the targeting task performance (TTP) metric applies a weighting of different system specifications, that are determined from the scene geometry, to calculate a probability of task performance. In this correspondence we detail how to utilize an imaging system specification document to obtain a baseline performance estimate using the Night Vision Integrated Performance Model (NV-IPM), the corresponding input requirements, and potential assumptions. We then discuss how measurements can be performed to update the model to provide a more accurate prediction of performance, detailing the procedures taken at the NVESD Advanced Sensor Evaluation Facility (ASEF) lay utilizing the Night Vision Laboratory Capture (NVLabCap) software. Finally, we show how the outputs of the measurement can be compared to those of the initial specification sheet based model, and evaluated against a requirements document. The modeling components and data set produced for this work are available upon request, and will serve as a means to benchmark performance for both modeling and measurement methods.