23 February 2021 Simple target acquisition model based on /d
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The US Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate’s Night Vision Integrated Performance Model (NVIPM) is a robust, comprehensive, and sophisticated model that calculates the performance of an infrared imager in the task of target acquisition. The inputs are specifics about the target, atmosphere, optics, detector, electronics, and display and the outputs are probabilities of target detection, recognition, and identification. NVIPM is complicated and takes a good bit of time to master obtaining correct answers based on numerous assumptions and modeling experience. For midwave infrared (MWIR) and longwave infrared (LWIR) sensors, past research has shown that imaging system performance is strongly related to Fλ  /  d, where F is the f-number, λ is the wavelength, and d is the detector pitch. Fλ  /  d provides a metric that relates how closely to diffraction-limited performance a sensor operates. We use the past Fλ  /  d work to develop a simple model that provides probability of target discrimination as a function of range that can be performed with a simple hand calculator or spreadsheet. We compare this model to the NVIPM calculations on 10 very disparate MWIR and LWIR sensors to show robust agreement. We also describe the conditions under which the simple model is valid.

© 2021 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) 0091-3286/2021/$28.00 © 2021 SPIE
Ronald Driggers, Glenn Goranson, Steve Butrimas, Gerald Holst, and Orges Furxhi "Simple target acquisition model based on /d," Optical Engineering 60(2), 023104 (23 February 2021). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.60.2.023104
Received: 30 November 2020; Accepted: 26 January 2021; Published: 23 February 2021
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CITATIONS
Cited by 4 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Sensors

Signal to noise ratio

Mid-IR

Target acquisition

Targeting Task Performance metric

Thermal modeling

Performance modeling

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