Missile Intercept Debris Cloud Signature Toolkit

"A successful intercept of a high-altitude missile (>100km) by a kinetic energy kill vehicle initiates a complex sequence of events and observable signatures occurring over a very wide range of temporal, spatial, and spectral scales. The resultant debriscloud signatures contain highly desirable information on the lethality of the intercept (glancing blow or deadly impact) and on the contents of the warhead (nuclear, biological, or chemical). It is also a source of background clutter potentiallyinterfering with the operation of other sensors. A single, phenomenologically complete, and comprehensive (UV-LWIR spectral coverage) debris cloud model does not exist. To address this important BMDO need, Spectral Sciences, Inc. proposes to develop theDebris Cloud Signature Toolkit (DCST). The problem separates naturally into three major modules, (1) the plasma flash, (2) the freely expanding debris cloud, and (3) the atmospherically-interacting debris cloud. In Phase I, we plan to formulate theoverall approach to each of the modules and to select one module, the plasma flash, for further development and application to analysis of field data. In Phase II, a prototype DCST will be developed and applied to analysis of available intercept data fromthe THAAD, NMD, and NTW programs. The primary product will be a state of the art software toolkit for the simulation of signatures from the debris cloud resulting from a high-altitude missile inter