Scene Generation
Scene generation employs the use of a computer model to create a representation of a world as seen from a particular vantage point using phenomenology and physics. The scenes are created to achieve a usefulrepresentation of the domain of interest for a given application such as video games, simulation training for vehicle operators, models of human anatomy, or weapon system sensor components. For scientific and sensor applications, scene generation is usually associated with the synthetic modeling of the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a defined environment (e.g. atmosphere, ocean, or illumination of a terrain) in specific regions of the electromagnetic spectrum such as the Optical (visible, infrared, ultraviolet) or Radio Frequency. While most scene generators for military applications are designed to create scenes in the visible for applications such as flight training, driver simulations, and simulation of individual combatants, there is also a need for scene generation for design and hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing of electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) sensors deployed in:
In particular, there is a need in US missile defense for HWIL simulation of visible and IR sensors for ballistic missile engagement.
The Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Space Science Division in Washington, DC led the development of the Synthetic Scene Generation Model (SSGM) for the Strategic Defense Strategic Defense Initiative Office (SDIO) starting in the late 1980s. CPI joined NRL's SSGM team in 1994 and has played a leading role in designing and developing SSGM as part of the Battlespace Environment and Signatures Toolkit (BEST), an effort sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
SSGM is a high-fidelity physics-based model that is used to predict the ability of various electro-optical sensors and advanced surveillance systems to observe the spectral radiance emitted by targets in flight, such as ballistic missiles and their exhaust plumes, as well as the background spectral radiance from the surrounding atmospheric environment, from radio frequency (RF) to visible wavelengths. SSGM aids users in simulating a battlefield environment in which ballistic missiles are detected, acquired, tracked, and engaged. SSGM integrates data bases and validated phenomenology models into a common software framework to provide a traceable standard for generating complex optical signature information. This signature information is then used in the design, simulation, and tests of sensor and system performance. It is also used to perform R&D analyses, to support system acquisition, and to provide a common phenomenology basis for various studies associated with missile defense. SSGM is being incorporated as one component in BEST, a larger single software application that is designed to meet the broad needs of the missile defense community to include: analysts, force-on-force simulations, and HWIL facilities. CPI has had the responsibility for integrating SSGM into BEST, and currently provides support to the SSGM/ BEST programs in the areas of user support, systems requirements, analysis, and testing.
A composite scene generated by SSGM for the mid-wave infrared (MWIR)
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