Environmental Characterization for Target Acquisition. Report 2. Analysis ofThermal and Visible Imagery

摘要

Automated/Aided Target Recognition (ATR) systems are being developed for clientand next generation attack and reconnaissance helicopters. Part of the development cycle consists of testing and evaluation of the systems at field test facilities within the United States. Preliminary tests of ATR systems have demonstrated a high sensitivity to terrain and environmental conditions. Testers and analysts must therefore have an understanding of the relationship between system performance and terrain/environmental conditions to plan tests and interpret data. To develop an understanding of this relationship, the Environmental Characterization for Target Acquisition (ECTA) Program was initiated. As part of this program, visible and thermal infrared imagery, meteorological data and terrain characterization data were systematically collected from six different U.S. sites for different times of year and times of day. This report describes analysis procedures for evaluating the relationships between the sites' ground-truth measurements and statistical characteristics of resulting imagery. Results of these analyses are presented and discussed. Automatic target recognition, Terrain conditions, Weather data. Decision trees, Thermal infrared imagery, Image metrics, Visible imagery.