Seeing Photons Progress and Limits of Visible and Infrared Sensor Arrays (2010) / Chapter Skim
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1 National Security Context of Detector Technologies
1 National Security Context of Detector Technologies
Pages 9-22
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From page 9... ...
. The statement of task for this study appears in Box 1-1 and is followed by a synopsis of the committee's approach for conducting the study and a general discussion of uses of detector technologies for future military applications.1 Finally, a roadmap for the remaining report chapters explains the organization of this report.
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From page 10... ...
Compare these limits to the near-term state of the art, identifying the scaling laws and hurdles cur rently restricting progress. Identify key technologies that may help bridge the gaps within a 10-15 year time frame, the implica tions for future military applications, and any significant indicators of programs to develop such applications.
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From page 11... ...
This process is necessarily imperfect, but it captures many of the implications of future sensor systems employing detector technology advances. The following sections are general military applications that, in the committee's estimation, will benefit from future advances in detector technologies.
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From page 12... ...
Airborne Military Targeting A targeting sensor's main function is to detect and identify an object as far away as possible. The main identification limitation for a targeting sensor will be
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From page 13... ...
Size and weight constraints reduced the clear aperture to about 5 or 6 inches in diameter, thus reducing identification ability at constant wavelength. Missile Warning Sensors One requirement for missile warning is field of view to see the approaching missile.
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From page 14... ...
Satellite Platforms This discussion is intended to characterize the important considerations for satellite sensor system designs, as opposed to an extensive discussion of specific applications and specific designs; specific sensor systems are mentioned only to illustrate the satellite platform considerations. Mission requirements usually start the sensor design process, and the usual "top-down" and "bottom-up" system engi neering discipline develops the sensor system.
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From page 15... ...
One indirect consequence is the constraint of the communication channel used to relay collected data to Earth, which affects the on-board data processing and storage requirements; either ground-data nodes must be in view globally or a cross-link to a data relay satellite has to be provided. Yet another indirect consequence is the payload weight, size, and power dependence on the available booster size and overall mission cost.
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From page 16... ...
A low-cost and short-development-time satellite sensor example is provided by Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer (ARTEMIS) , a multispectral sensor configured from exist ing components launched recently on TacSat 3.7 Finally, some totally new sensing concepts are being explored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
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From page 17... ...
This example emphasizes the need to continually and creatively explore new satellite imaging sensor designs to maximize mission results. Implications for Sensor Systems Arguably, satellite platforms present the most exacting requirements for intel ligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
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From page 18... ...
Finally, this threat mitigation requirement may well impact the choice of orbit to conduct the mission since LEOs are the lowest altitude and, hence, the most susceptible to intentional disruption. POSSIBLE FUTURE DETECTOR-RELATED MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS In considering the 10-15 year time frame, the statements below reflect content, in the form of presentations or documentation, provided to the committee during its data-gathering stage: • Second-generation focal plane array (FPA)
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From page 19... ...
Accessed March 24, 2010; numerous Laser Focus World issues. 18 John Miller.
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From page 20... ...
All digital processing capability directly on-FPA will emerge to provide improved data compression, feature extraction, and lowered overall data system complexity; and 3. Computational imaging application to "conformal imaging," "speckle im aging," and "hyperspectral" for new airborne platforms; these techniques feature system configuration advantages to compensate for atmospheric turbulence, airfoil boundary-layer effects, and optical train optimization.
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From page 21... ...
image feature extraction for terrain, automatic target recognition, change detection, and facial recognition; (4) specific military missions, such as warning detection, missile seekers, missile fusing, and star trackers; and (5)
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From page 22... ...
Chapter 2, "Fundamentals of Ultraviolet, Visible, and Infrared Detectors," covers the first paragraph. The report addresses the second and third paragraphs in the statement of task according to whether the important technologies are considered evolutionary or emerging.
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