Scenario-Based Assessment of Sensors for the Canadian Recognized Maritime Picture

摘要

In the area of command and control projects in which a surveillance sensor is being evaluated, project sponsors ask scientists to measure the operational utility and value of the sensor to assist in the decision making process. This paper puts forward a formal and consistent methodology of relating trial results to operational value-added by employing the Canadian Forces Force Planning Scenarios. The approach was applied within an Operational Evaluation (OPVAL) of a High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) system that is used for over-the-horizon coastal surveillance. The methodology was applied to data obtained during trials of the HFSWR system located off the east coast Newfoundland, Canada. For this OPVAL, four Vice Chief of the Defence Staff scenarios were selected that require significant Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability: (Search and Rescue (SAR), Surveillance, National Sovereignty, and Defence of North America). As these scenarios were too general in nature to provide a straightforward evaluation of the sensor system, maritime vignettes were produced for each of the four ISR scenarios and a set of ISR objectives was established for each vignette. The results of this OPVAL were assessed to determine HFSWR's contribution to surveillance-based Force Planning Scenarios. The primary contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of relating OPVAL results directly to the scenarios in a quantifiable fashion. The main conclusion of the paper is that the approach presents the capabilities of the sensor system to the decision makers in a logical and intuitive way, and it provides a context to the results of the analysis that is easy to communicate to a larger audience.