Research and Simulation in Support of Near Real Time/Real Time Reconnaissance RPV Systems

Abstract : A facility was developed for assessing operator performance in target recognition and interpretation tasks using real time and near real time electrooptical sensor imagery. A programmable image scanner was upgraded to generate simulated sensor imagery under operational flight profiles. A study was performed to compare operator performance against three candidate sensors. The study utilized two V/H levels, the operationally preferred and the minimum commensurate with RPV survivability. Significant findings were developed for the dependent measures of: percent of targets detected, time on display until detection, ground range at detection, slant range at detection, and displayed image scale at detection. Accuracy of interpretation and interpreter confidence did not yield significant results. These results were combined with analytically based performance measures to produce a sensor comparison table in which twelve criteria, weighted by their respective operational impact, were used. A slewable television camera, equipped with zoom optics, and supported by a near real time playback capability achieved the highest performance score. Additionally, seventeen areas were identified in which future investigations could provide operationally important findings to the RPV Special Project Office.