On-Aircraft Cloud-Based App to Provide Enhanced EO/IR/SAR/Radar Sensor Exploitation Using the AquaQuIPS Cloud Data Fusion Processor

ABSTRACT:Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have grave limitations in the quantity and quality of data that can be transmitted either for end use or exploitation. 

This SBIR effort seeks to develop and deploy one or more applications (Apps), similar in concept to those hosted on smart phones and within ground-based clouds, which can access this collected data, process it and then exploit the results using existing or newly developed algorithms. Jove Sciences, Inc. has had extensive experience with the SAR, EO/IR, and AIS sensors on the General Atomics Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) surrogate during Trident Warrior (TW) 10 and 12. The three Apps proposed here are: the Moving Target Indicator (MTI) M of N Tracker for SAR data (with video SAR capability); data compression for the EO/IR images to reduce bandwidth; and an on-aircraft version of the AquaQuIPS (AQ) data fusion processor that has been so successful in four TW exercises that it is now running at SPAWAR as a TRL-8 real time processor. These three on aircraft Apps will enable the war fighters to use a clear and accurate display of contact tracks in time to make critical tactical decisions.BENEFIT:There are two separate commercial applications for AQs capabilities. Phase II.5 integration of AQ into large Navy PoRs, such as NAVSEA's Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS) and PMW-120's/SPWAR's DCGS-N II, will provide a significant measure of "value added" to a wide variety of Fleet Missions, from ASW to Pirate/dark ship detection and tracking. CAPT Scott Heller (PME-120) has inserted AQ into the new S & T assessment program for DCGS-N II. If these two Phase II.5 tasks are successful, the natural Phase III task to follow is to have the Fleet evaluate AQs value added, and, if successful, write an Urgent Need Statement (UNS) to OPNAV to develop a PoR to directly address the Asymmetric Maritime Threat (AMT) problem at the Joint level. Pirate ships are killing American citizens now, dark ships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are running illicit arms and other contraband to rogue terrorist groups, and drug runners from Columbia and the Far East now have semi and fully submersible submarines that are capable of carrying nuclear weapons or other WMD to U.S, ports. The AMTs will go from the severe threat to individual ships today to a potential delivery vehicle for a nuclear weapon or other WMD. The second commercial customers are the ship routing companies, whose fees are more than paid for by reductions in insurance costs if ships can be routed safely and efficiently to their destinations. Two factors that make AQ capabilities most valuable to ship routers are the exponential increase in unclassified sensors available now and in the near future and the rising cost of fuel. Ship routing companies are now using AIS as their only sensor to route ships, and this is totally inadequate, especially against threats like Pirate ships worldwide (not just the Horn of Africa) and severe storms and tsunamis like the two that devastated Chile and Japan recently. Over 8 countries are developing unclassified space based radar systems whose data will soon be available. Radars are active sensors capable of detecting dark contacts like Pirate ships, and passive AIS sensors in common use today are useless against dark threats. The ship routing companies do not have a multi-INT data fusion engine like AQ or a ship route-planning tool. Multi-INT data fusion algorithms like AQ take decades to develop, and buying this capability is far more economical than starting from scratch. AQ has worked with PMW-120 for over 20 years and the very best maritime storm nowcasting and forecasting models are available at no cost to integrate withAQ to route ships so they avoid storms and optimize transit time at the same time. With rising fuel costs a few days additional transit time due to storm encounters can be very damaging economically