Electro-Optical Remote Sensing

Over the last half century, electro-optical remote sensing has developed into an essential military technology. The efficiency and efficacy of thermal imagers, light amplification sights, laser designators and rangefinders, and video trackers have been well established. New technologies now permit thermal imaging systems to operate in new spectral domains with improved efficiency. Passive RF devices can image through walls, and laser systems have moved past simple rangefinders to permit high-fidelity, three-dimensional imaging at extended ranges. Synthetic aperture optical radar has the potential to significantly extend the range of three-dimensional imaging. Laser Doppler vibrometry can now identify vehicles well beyond visual ranges. Passive hyperspectral imaging and remote laser spectroscopy can identify material types and even detect the presence of specific chemical species. 

 Meanwhile, fully automatic target detection, recognition, and identification have been highly desirable, but equally elusive objectives. The development of advanced and affordable signal and high-speed data processing, coupled with these new sensing technologies, now opens the opportunity for both automatic and autonomous target detection, recognition and identification. High-speed digital processing and advanced algorithms enable the fusion of the data from multiple sensors having different resolutions, perspectives and modes of operation at the pixel, feature or detection level to enhance the recognition and identification process. 

 These advances are coming available at a very opportune time. Low-intensity conflicts, unconventional warfare, urban combat, border security and the continued rise in terrorism has created a need for new and innovative application of these technologies in very unconventional ways. As a result, these technologies are finding their way into civil defense, law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts.