MAPTIP - Marine Aerosol Properties and Thermal Imager Performance : Summary and initial results
conference paper
The marine aerosol properties and thermal imager performance trial (MAPTIP) was conducted by NATO AC/243 Panel 04/RSG.8 and 04/RSG.5 in the Dutch coastal waters during the fall of 1993. The main objectives of the trial were (1) to assess marine boundary layer effects on thermal imaging systems and (2) to improve and validate vertical marine aerosol models with emphasis on coastal and near-surface effects. Aerosol and meteorological instruments, as well as thermal imagers and calibrated targets, were utilized on two off-shore platforms, a beach station, three airborne platforms, and buoy systems. This network of instrumentation has provided a comprehensive data base of aerosol size distribution profiles and relevant meteorological variables throughout the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Atmospheric turbulence and refractivity effects in the IR and rf bands were measured to assess the marine boundary layer effects on the degradation of thermal images. Thermal imagery in both the 3 - 5 and 8 - 12 μm bands was included to provide ground truth for assessing the low-level propagation effects near the ocean surface. Calibrated targets at different altitudes were observed to the maximum observable range under a wide variety of conditions. These data are to be used for the development and validation of IRST models and IR ship signature models, and for determining the effects of marine-generated aerosols, turbulence, and meteorological profiles on their performance.
Topics
TNO Identifier
94810
Publisher
SPIE
Source title
Proceedings SPIE - 9th Meeting on Optical Engineering in Israel, 24-26 October 1994, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Editor(s)
Shladov, I.
Weissman, Y.
Kopeika, N.S.
Weissman, Y.
Kopeika, N.S.
Place of publication
Bellingham, WA.
Pages
67-78