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It is extremely difficult and expensive to determine the flight attitude and aimpoint of small maneuvering miniature air vehicles from ground based fixed or tracking photography. Telemetry alone cannot provide sufficient information bandwidth on 'what' the ground tracking is seeing and consequently 'why' it did or did not function properly. Additionally, it is anticipated that 'smart' and 'brilliant' guided vehicles now in development will require a high resolution imaging support system to determine which target and which part of a ground feature is being used for navigation or targeting. Other requirements include support of sub-component separation from developmental supersonic vehicles, where the clean separation from the container is not determinable from ground based film systems and film cameras do not survive vehicle breakup and impact. Hence, the requirement is to develop and demonstrate an imaging support system for development/testing that can provide the flight vehicle developer/analyst with imagery (combined with miniature telemetry sources) sufficient to recreate the trajectory, terminal navigation, and flight termination events. This project is a development and demonstration of a real-time, launch-rated, shuttered, electronic imager, transmitter, and analysis system. This effort demonstrated boresighted imagery from inside small flight vehicles for post flight analysis of trajectory, and capture of ground imagery during random triggered vehicle functions. The initial studies for this capability have been accomplished by the Experimental Dynamics Section of the Air Force Wright Laboratory, Armament Directorate, Eglin AFB, Florida, and the Telemetry Support Branch of the Army Material Research and Development Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. It has been determined that at 1/10,000 of a second exposure time, new ultra-miniature CCD sensors have sufficient sensitivity to image key ground target features without blur, thereby providing data for trajectory, timing, and advanced sensor development. This system will be used for ground tracking data reduction in support of small air vehicle and munition testing. It will provide a means of integrating the imagery and telemetry data from the item with ground based photographic support. The technique we have designed will exploit off-the-shelf software and analysis components. A differential GPS survey instrument will establish a photogrammetric calibration grid throughout the range and reference targets along the flight path. Images from the on-board sensor will be used to calibrate the ortho- rectification model in the analysis software. The projectile images will be transmitted and recorded on several tape recorders to insure complete capture of each video field. The images will be combined with a non-linear video editor into a time-correlated record. Each correlated video field will be written to video disk. The files will be converted to DMA compatible format and then analyzed for determination of the projectile altitude, attitude and position in space. The resulting data file will be used to create a photomosaic of the ground the projectile flew over and the targets it saw. The data will be then transformed to a trajectory file and used to generate a graphic overlay that will merge digital photo data of the range with actual images captured. The plan is to superimpose the flight path of the projectile, the path of the weapons aimpoint, and annotation of each internal sequence event. With tools used to produce state-of-the-art computer graphics, we now think it will be possible to reconstruct the test event from the viewpoint of the warhead, the target, and a 'God's-Eye' view looking over the shoulder of the projectile.

Most of man's technical creations are the direct result of attempts to solve a clearly perceived need or problem. Man's creative ability to envision new devices and technologies has been the wellspring of technological progress. The sensor most used in this process is the human eye. The difficulty today is that the "problems and needs" requiring solutions, frequently are no longer visible to the unaided human eye. This springs the development of today's advanced observation/measurement sensors and systems. It is disconcerting to realize that many of the most capable scientists are striving to solve important problems without the knowledge or benefit of today's diagnostic and observation tools. Most quality versions of these tools or visual aids have been meticulously organized into building blocks for the express purpose of being incorporated into easily configured but highly sophisticated measurement systems. Such systems can be rapidly structured to address specific observation and measurement needs. The age-old adage echoed repeatedly through the halls of science, "If I can see the problem I can solve it," need not be ignored.

This paper defines two types of dynamic range as applied to gated intensified solid state cameras.It also explores several techniques of extending the dynamic range and addresses the probable implications of these techniques relative to specific applications.

Over the last ten years, standardization in the video industry has taken both the high road and the low road. Manufacturers of broadcast and consumer video products have reaped the benefits of significant standardization, including ease of marketing and a logical progression of product improvement, while customers enjoy product compatibility, ease of comparison and a degree of standardization in quality. Unfortunately, industrial video manufacturers have done a very poor job of standardizing products and uniformly specifying product performance.

This paper describes the techniques and concepts used in the development and construction of a gated, intensified, solid state video camera. This state-of-the-art camera provides submicrosecond image capture with excellent resolution and minimal blooming. The paper addresses the technical and practical considerations which drove the camera design and which affect the value of this instrument for both observation and measurement applications. The sensor is based on a gated, custom-designed, microchannel plate intensification of a C.I.D. (Charge Injection Device), self-scanning imaging array. The sensor operates in the visible and near-infrared (IR) spectrum, and is capable of full bandwidth image capture at sub-microsecond speeds. It can be operated in a truly asynchronous random event mode, while maintaining a standard NTSC output format. The camera is described in terms of its architecture, physical structure, application, performance and design characteristics.

This paper describes the latest techniques used in the development and construction of two unique types of low-light level sensors. Both sensors operate in the visible and near I.R. (infrared) spectrum but address divergent design goals, architectures, and construction. The first sensor is based on custom single micro-channel plate intensification of the C.I.D. (charge injection device)6solid-state self scanning array. Design and performance goals emphasize sensitivity (10 -6 F.C.), MTF, miniturization (0.0258 cu.ft.), ruggedness, integration and gating. The second sensor is based on custom dual micro-channel plate intensification of a modi-fied silicon array tube. Design and performance goals emphasize sensitivity (10 -8 F.C.), intrascene dynamic range (1x10 8 ) and blooming. Both sensors are described in terms of architectures, physical structure, performance and design trade offs.