AUTOMATED FORWARD LOOKING INFRARED (FLIR) RESOLUTION MEASUREMENT DEVELOPMENT

MINIMUM RESOLVABLE TEMPERATURE (MRT) IS PROBABLY THE BEST KNOWN ANDMOST USEFUL FLIR SPECIFICATION PARAMETER. MRT IS A FIGURE OF MERIT WHICH MEASURES BOTH THE SENSITIVITY AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF A FLIR AND IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO FIELD PERFORMANCE. THE TRADITIONAL MRT TEST REQUIRES TRAINED OBSERVERS AND IS LABOR INTENSIVE. SINCE MRT ISA SUBJECTIVE MEASURE, THE RESULTS VARY BETWEEN OBSERVERS. THERE IS A NEED TO DEVELOP A TEST SYSTEM WHICH CAN ACCURATELY AND OBJECTIVELY MEASURE MRT IN THE LAB AND IN THE FIELD ENVIRONMENT. DCS HAS DEVELOPED A TECHNIQUE FOR OBJECTIVE MRT WHICH CAN BE MODIFIED FOR THE NAVAL AIRCRAFT ENVIRONMENT. THIS REQUIRES DEVELOPMENT OF A SUITABLE RELAY SCHEME TO CAPTURE THE DISPLAYED TEST PATTERN AND THEN TO REGISTER THIS IMAGE IN AN IMAGE PROCESSOR. THE DCS AUTOMRT MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE WILL BE MODIFIED TO REFLECT THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THE FINAL STEP WILL BE TO INCORPORATE THESE MODIFICATIONS INTO A DESIGN SPECIFICATION FOR PRODUCING A PROTOTYPE AUTOMRT UNIT.