Analysis of multi-sensor, multi-spectral, active and passive imaging measurements.

Abstract : We study the complementarity of active and passive EO sensors in different spectral bands, applied to friend or foe identification of human activities and of individuals. Laser imaging may complement radar or passive EO sensors. The laser may be fired only when required. During field trials, we have recorded dynamic scenarios of interest with as many as ten sensors simultaneously: three active sensors in the NIR and SWIR regions, and seven passive sensors from the blue to the LWIR. The scenes include personnel using objects of interest, as well as reflectance and resolution targets. A good dataset was recorded, for distances from 600 to 1000 m, against different backgrounds and under a variety of atmospheric conditions. These experimental data are under analysis to determine and understand the key phenomena that can be exploited for enhancing target-tobackground discrimination and for defining sensor combinations of interest. We present first results.