This paper describes an approach to utilize a multi-channel, multi-spectral electro-optic (EO) system for littoral zone
characterization. Advanced Coherent Technologies, LLC (ACT) presents their EO sensor systems for the surf zone
environmental assessment and potential surf zone target detection. Specifically, an approach is presented to determine a
Surf Zone Index (SZI) from the multi-spectral EO sensor system. SZI provides a single quantitative value of the surf
zone conditions delivering an immediate understanding of the area and an assessment as to how well an airborne optical
system might perform in a mine countermeasures (MCM) operation. Utilizing consecutive frames of SZI images, ACT
is able to measure variability over time. A surf zone nomograph, which incorporates targets, sensor, and environmental
data, including the SZI to determine the environmental impact on system performance, is reviewed in this work. ACT's
electro-optical multi-channel, multi-spectral imaging system and test results are presented and discussed.
Multispectral visible and infrared observations of various species of whales were made in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Quebec, Canada and Papawai Point in Maui, Hawaii. The Multi-mission Adaptable Narrowband Imaging System (MANTIS) was deployed in two configurations: airborne looking down, and bluff mounted looking at low-grazing angles. An Infrared (IR) sensor was also deployed in the bluff mounted configuration. Detections of marine mammals were made with these systems of submerged mammals and surface mammals at ranges up to 8 miles. Automatic detection algorithms are being explored to detect, track and monitor the behavior of individuals and pods of whales. This effort is part of a United States Navy effort to insure that marine mammals are not injured during the testing of the US Navy's acoustic Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) systems.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Algorithm development, Data acquisition, Detection and tracking algorithms, Multispectral imaging, Telecommunications, Image processing, Antennas, Data processing, Data communications
Radiance Technologies, Inc. has tested and demonstrated real-time collection and on-board processing of Multispectral
Imagery (MSI). Further, the test and demonstration consisted of a real-time downlink from the aircraft to the ground
station and real-time display of the processed data product. The multispectral imagery was collected with a low-cost,
low-profile MSI sensor, MANTIS-3T, from PAR Government Systems. The data product was created from output of a
novel spectral algorithm combination that increases the probability of detection and decreases the false alarm rates for
specific objects of interest. The display product was a compressed true color image in which the detected objects were
delineated with red pixels. A description of the end-to-end solution, issues encountered as well as their resolution, and
results will be discussed.
This note presents an airborne spectral imaging system and methodology used to detect, track and monitor marine
mammal populations. The system is a four band multispectral imaging system using spectral bands tailored for maritime
imaging. This low cost, low volume, imaging sensor can be deployed on either a small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) or
any other cost efficient aircraft. Results of recent multispectral data collects over marine mammals in St. Lawrence
Seaway are presented. Species present included beluga whales as well as various species of larger baleen whales.
Narrow band polarization measurements were taken from a bridge in San Diego Harbor using the Advanced Coherent
Technologies Multi-mission Adaptable Narrowband Imaging Spectrometer (MANTIS) multichannel imaging system.
MANTIS was capable of simultaneously collecting four channels of imagery through a narrowband green (532 nm) filter
together with linear polarizers oriented at 0, 45, 90, and 135 degrees. This configuration enabled the collection of the
first three Stokes Vector elements. The data is being gathered to explore methods of calculating the sea surface Mueller
Matrix. Models, methods, and measurements are presented. Of specific interest is the deviation of the modeled data
from the measured data and its causes. The data and a model are used to estimate the contribution of upwelled polarized
light.
PAR Government Systems Corporation (PAR) with Advanced Coherent Technologies, LLC (ACT) has developed
affordable, narrow-band polarimetry sensor hardware and software based upon the PAR Mission Adaptable Narrowband
Tunable Imaging Sensor (MANTIS). The sensor has been deployed in multiple environments. Polarimetric imagery of
the clear blue sky and the sea surface has been collected. In addition, a significant amount of calibration data has been
collected to correctly calibrate the sensor for real-time Stokes Vector imaging. Data collected with the MANTIS
polarization sensor has been compared to modeled data. The sensor hardware and software is described and some
representative collected calibration data are presented and compared to a developing model.
Radiance Technologies has developed and integrated a multispectral / hyperspectral data analysis toolbox into an easy to
use operator interface. HyperPACSTM (Hyperspectral data Processing Algorithm Comparison Software) allows the data
analyst to process spectral data in multiple input formats with many different spectral algorithms and/or different
algorithm parameters and options. Results are compared to user supplied ground truth, and Receiver Operating
Characteristic (ROC) curves providing a direct comparison of algorithm performance are generated. The HyperPACSTM
GUI makes the software easy to use, and the architecture readily allows for the integration of custom algorithms
provided by the analyst. Radiance has used HyperPACSTM in the evaluation of hyperspectral and multispectral
algorithms in support of an ongoing program. A description of HyperPACSTM, the GUI, and processing examples are
given.
Surf zone measurements and airborne imagery were collected off North Carolina. The data and a surf zone index based
on the properties of water clarity, waves, and foam were used to predict imager performance for objects of varying
reflectivity and contrast.
PAR Government Systems Corporation (PAR) has deployed their turret mounted Mission Adaptable Narrowband
Tunable Imaging System (MANTIS-3T) and collected nearly 300 GBytes of multispectral data over mine-like targets in
a desert environment in support of mine counter measures (MCM), intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance study
applications. Multispectral processing algorithms such as RX and SEM have demonstrated success with hyperspectral
data when searching for large targets. As target size decreases relative to sensor resolution, false alarms increase and
performance declines. Detection of recently placed mine-like objects, however, can be enhanced by adding a temporal
dimension to the spectral processing. An automated color-to-color and frame-to-frame registration algorithm has been
developed as a first, and required, step to an automated multispectral change detection algorithm. The automated
registration algorithms are used to process multispectral desert data collected with MANTIS-3T. Performance results and
processing difficulties are reported.
PAR Government Systems Corporation (PAR) has developed a low-cost, low-weight, low-profile, mission-adaptable multispectral imaging system utilizing mass-produced commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, for the purpose of providing continuous real-time multispectral data collection for mine counter measures (MCM), intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance study applications aboard low-cost, light manned and unmanned aircraft platforms. The mission adaptable narrowband tunable imaging system (MANTIS) has been integrated into a small 5" turret currently employed on a variety of small UAV platforms. The turreted MANTIS (MANTIS-3T) provides remote operator control to adjust gain, exposure, and pointing commands. The MANTIS-3T sensor will be used to collect imagery over calibration and test targets. Integration strategies and planned data collections are presented.
Over the past year an index has been defined which quantifies the surf zone with respect to an electro-optical (EO) system’s ability to find targets. The purpose of this index is to both normalize the EO Mine Counter Measure (MCM) systems performance expectations to the environment in which it is tested and to assess the value of its performance in an operational environment. For example, if a given system has a Probability of Detection (PD) requirement of 90% in a clear water surf zone and is tested in murky waters the surf zone index of the murky water is used to determine what PD is required in the murky water to yield the 90% PD clear water requirement. The surf zone index is defined in this paper and expanded from the deterministic contrast transmittance as reported in earlier papers to a probabilistic approach. Examples of how to measure the index using readily available low cost spectral imagers such as PAR Government Systems Corporation’s Mission Adaptable Narrowband Tunable Imaging Spectrometer (MANTIS) system are given. Finally, the surf zone index usage is discussed and demonstrated.
A series of low cost, light weight, mission-adaptable multispectral imaging spectrometers have been developed by PAR Government Systems Corporation (PGSC), utilizing mass-produced commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The developed MANTIS sensors have been used to collect continuous multispectral data for mine counter measures (MCM) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) applications aboard low cost manned aircraft platforms. Each MANTIS system images four spectral bands simultaneously. The four user-selectable spectral filters are inserted into an easily accessible filter cartridge supporting pre-flight filter selection. Data acquisition is accomplished by COTS frame grabbers installed in a Pentium based personal computer and all digitized data is written in real-time to a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). PGSC has also developed a graphical user interface providing control, display and recording options. The MANTIS approach and simple design lends itself to low-cost modifications and improvements.
Airborne multispectral imagery was collected over various targets on the beach and in the water in an attempt to characterize the surf zone environment with respect to electro-optical system capabilities and to assess the utility of very low cost, small multispectral systems in mine counter measures (MCM) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications. The data was collected by PAR Government Systems Corporation (PGSC) at the Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility at Duck North Carolina and on the beaches of Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in Southern California. PGSC flew the first two of its MANTIS (Mission Adaptable Narrowband Tunable Imaging Sensor) systems. Both MANTIS systems were flown in an IR - red - green - blue (700, 600, 550, 480 nm) configuration from altitudes ranging from 200 to 700 meters. Data collected has been lightly analyzed and a surf zone index (SZI) defined and calculated. This index allows mine hunting system performance measurements in the surf zone to be normalized by environmental conditions. The SZI takes into account water clarity, wave energy, and foam persistence.
KEYWORDS: Image processing, Cameras, Digital signal processing, Signal processing, Calibration, Image registration, Imaging systems, Video, Digital cameras, Algorithm development
Multispectral sensing is a technique for acquiring measurements of surface radiance in a series of several electromagnetic bands, ranging from the visible spectrum (.4 mm) through the thermal infrared region (3 - 14 mm). Multispectral sensing, by virtue of its many spectral bands can provide the capability of characterizing and identifying natural and man-made targets in terms of both their spatial characteristics and often more importantly, their material properties. The research described in this paper combines spectroscopic tools and techniques, based on physical models of the absorption and scattering spectral phenomenology in the scene, with signal processing techniques, Innovative methods of directly fusing terrain representations and data from separate sensors during spectral feature extraction were also explored. The resulting algorithms were then programmed on a four-processor PCI-bus-based digital signal processing (DSP) board. The DSP board performed end-to-end processing of the multispectral imaging task, including; camera calibration, image acquisition from the four digital imaging cameras, and image processing.
KEYWORDS: Video, Digital signal processing, Detection and tracking algorithms, Video surveillance, Signal processing, Software development, Image registration, Infrared cameras, Infrared radiation, Imaging systems
PAR Government Systems Corporation (PGSC) has recently developed a complete activity detection and tracking system using standard NTSC Video or Infrared (IR) camera inputs. The inputs are processed using state-of-the-art signal processing hardware and software developed specifically for real-time applications. The system automatically detects and tracks moving objects in video or infrared imagery. Algorithms to automatically detect and track moving objects were implemented and ported to a C80 based DSP board for real-time operation. The real-time embedded software performs: (1) Video/IR frame registration to compensate for sensor motion, jitter, and panning; (2) Moving target detection and track formation; (3) Symbology overlays. The hardware components are PC based COGS which include a high speed DSP board for real-time video/IR data collection and processing. The system can be used for a variety of detection and tracking purposes including border surveillance, perimeter surveillance including building, airport, correctional facilities, and other areas requiring detection and tracking of intruders. The system was designed, built and tested in 1998 by PAR Government Systems Corporation, La Jolla, CA. This paper addresses the algorithms (Registration, Tracking, Outputs) as well as hardware used to port the algorithms (C80 DSP board) for real-time processing.
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