Proceedings Article | 24 May 2012
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Unattended ground sensors, Intelligence systems, Environmental sensing, Video, Environmental monitoring, Imaging systems, Intelligent sensors, Video processing, Source mask optimization
In June 2011, the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL) participated in Empire
Challenge 2011 (EC-11). EC-11 was United States Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) annual
live, joint and coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) interoperability
demonstration under the sponsorship of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
(USD/I). EC-11 consisted of a series of ISR interoperability events, using a combination of
modeling & simulation, laboratory and live-fly events.
Wide-area Littoral Discreet Observation (WALDO) was ARL's maritime/littoral capability.
WALDO met a USD(I) directive that EC-11 have a maritime component and WALDO was the
primary player in the maritime scenario conducted at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The WALDO effort demonstrated the utility of a networked layered sensor array deployed in
a maritime littoral environment, focusing on maritime surveillance targeting counter-drug,
counter-piracy and suspect activity in a littoral or riverine environment. In addition to an
embedded analytical capability, the sensor array and control infrastructure consisted of the
Oriole acoustic sensor, iScout unattended ground sensor (UGS), OmniSense UGS, the
Compact Radar and the Universal Distributed Management System (UDMS), which included
the Proxy Skyraider, an optionally manned aircraft mounting both wide and narrow FOV
EO/IR imaging sensors.
The capability seeded a littoral area with riverine and unattended sensors in order to
demonstrate the utility of a Wide Area Sensor (WAS) capability in a littoral environment
focused on maritime surveillance activities. The sensors provided a cue for WAS
placement/orbit. A narrow field of view sensor would be used to focus on more discreet
activities within the WAS footprint. Additionally, the capability experimented with novel
WAS orbits to determine if there are more optimal orbits for WAS collection in a littoral
environment.
The demonstration objectives for WALDO at EC-11 were:
* Demonstrate a networked, layered, multi-modal sensor array deployed in a maritime
littoral environment, focusing on maritime surveillance targeting counter-drug,
counter-piracy and suspect activity
* Assess the utility of a Wide Area Surveillance (WAS) sensor in a littoral environment
focused on maritime surveillance activities
* Demonstrate the effectiveness of using UGS sensors to cue WAS sensor tasking
* Employ a narrow field of view full motion video (FMV) sensor package that is
collocated with the WAS to conduct more discrete observation of potential items of
interest when queued by near-real-time data from UGS or observers
* Couple the ARL Oriole sensor with other modality UGS networks in a ground layer
ISR capability, and incorporate data collected from aerial sensors with a GEOINT
base layer to form a fused product
* Swarm multiple aerial or naval platforms to prosecute single or multiple targets
* Track fast moving surface vessels in littoral areas
* Disseminate time sensitive, high value data to the users at the tactical edge
In short we sought to answer the following question: how do you layer, control and display
disparate sensors and sensor modalities in such a way as to facilitate appropriate sensor
cross-cue, data integration, and analyst control to effectively monitor activity in a littoral (or
novel) environment?
