N151-028 TITLE: Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) Comprehensive Model for Scene Generation, Target Injection and Sensor Performance

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics, Battlespace

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS495, Mine Warfare Program Office, COBRA

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Research and develop a comprehensive software scene generation, target injection and sensor performance model for COBRA.

DESCRIPTION: The COBRA program (Ref 1) is interested in technologies that facilitate automated target recognition capabilities for previously unseen environments and target threats. Typically, algorithms are based on available test data sets. This may hinder the assessment and optimization of system performance in new environments and for new target threats. Such constraints may lead to outliers in the operational performance of the system when generalizations of past performance are extended to specific unseen locales and target types. To address these issues, in lieu of conducting numerous costly data collections, there is a need for a comprehensive system model that can be used to generate images simulating those that might be acquired in new environments and/or with new target types. The technologies developed under this topic will decrease costs by lowering the number of flight tests necessary for algorithm development and enable performance estimations in areas of interest where imagery is lacking.

The comprehensive model to be developed will include sub-models for background terrain, targets, platform, and sensor. For potential techniques applicable to the comprehensive model, see Refs 2-5. Background terrain models can be cued from existing information sources, such as imagery collected by other airborne sensors. Target models will allow insertion of targets into the scene, including landmines and obstacles. The platform model will include aspects of the sensor platform affecting image acquisition, including platform position, orientation, and sensor pointing. A sensor model will provide a parametric, multi-spectral radiometric response given the scene radiometry generated by the other models. Imagery, metadata, and a data description will be provided to the selected contractor(s) by the Navy.

PHASE I: Develop a comprehensive model architecture for the COBRA image acquisition system. Prepare conceptual designs for each model component, including targets, scene background, platform and sensor. Develop the models so they are capable of inserting targets into existing COBRA images and demonstrate the feasibility of the approach on sample images. The company will provide a Phase II development plan that addresses technical risk reduction and provides performance goals and key technical milestones.

PHASE II: Based on Phase I designs and Phase II plan, implement complete scene generation and radiometric sensor models for COBRA. The scene generation model and radiometric models will be evaluated in conjunction with COBRA imagery previously collected to determine whether it can meet the performance goals defined in the Phase II development plan. Model performance will be demonstrated through prototype evaluation and detailed analysis. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy use.

PHASE III: If the Phase II is successful, the company will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the technology for Navy use. The company will utilize the models and software tools to improve performance of the COBRA Block I and II systems. The company will also, support updates to the COBRA Technical Data Package (TDP) to support the Navy in transitioning the design and technology into the COBRA Production baseline for future Navy use. The company will support the Navy for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Navy use.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to application of the Comprehensive Model in the COBRA program, the technology is directly adaptable to many commercial activities that require performance evaluation of multi-spectral remote sensing systems for applications such as forestry, agriculture, and Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPOE).

REFERENCES:
1. The US Navy -- Fact File: AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA), 2013. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=1237&ct=2

2. Shaw, G. and Burke, H. "Spectral Imaging for Remote Sensing", Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 3�28, 2003. https://www.ll.mit.edu/publications/journal/pdf/vol14_no1/14_1remotesensing.pdf

3. Fanning, J., Halford, C., Jacobs, E., and Richardson, P. (2005) "Multispectral Imager Modeling," SPIE 2005. https://www.memphis.edu/eece/cas/docs/Multispectral_Imager_Modeling_SPIE05.pdf

4. Keen, Wayne; Tanner, Michael; Coker, Charles; Crow, Dennis, GPU based synthetic scene generation for maritime environments, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XV. Edited by Buford, James A., Jr.; Murrer, Robert Lee, Jr. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 7663, article id. 76630O, 9 pp. (2010).

5. DIRSIG: The Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation Model. http://dirsig.org/ Rochester Institute of Technology, Modeling and Simulations Group, 2014.

KEYWORDS: Target insertion; multispectral scene generation; radiometric sensor model; Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis; passive multispectral; minefield detection

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