Image processing and fusion for landing guidance

The use of various imaging sensors which can penetrate obscuring visual phenomena (such as fog, snow, smoke, etc.) has been proposed to enable aircraft landings in low visibility conditions. In this paper, we examine the use of two particular sensors, infrared and millimeter wave imaging radar, to aid in the landing task. Several image processing strategies are discussed and demonstrated which could improve the efficacy of an operational concept in which an image is presented to the pilot on a Head-Up Display. The possible strategies include the use of aircraft navigation information to help improve image quality, warping of the images to be geometrically conformal with the pilot's eye-point, use of a priori knowledge about the landing geometry to aid with sensor registration and processing, and fusion of multiple image sources.