EO/IR ATR performance Modeling to support fusion experimentation

The identification of a target from an electro-optical or thermal imaging sensor requires accurate sensor registration, quality sensor data, and an exploitation algorithm. Combining the sensor data and exploitation, we are concerned with developing an electro-optical or infrared (EO/IR) performance model. To combat the registration issue, we need a detailed list of operating conditions (i.e. collection position) so that the sensor exploitation results can be evaluated with sensitivities to these operating conditions or collection parameters. The focus of this paper will build on the NVSED AQUIRE model(2). We are also concerned with developing an EO/IR model that affords comparable operating condition parameters to a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) performance model. The choice of EO/IR modeling additions are focused on areas were Fusion Gain might be realized through an experiment tradeoff between multiple EO/IR looks for ATR exploitation fusion. The two additions to known EO/IR models discussed in the paper are (1) adjacency and (2) obscuration. The methods to account for these new operating conditions and the corresponding results on the modeled performance are presented in this paper.