Validation of target and background modeling in midwave infrared band for tropical maritime environment (Conference Presentation)

In February 2018 Australia and Norway jointly conducted a field trial in Darwin collecting IR imagery in adverse weather conditions. The wet season in the Northern Territory is charactersied by high temperatures and humidity with intensive rains, storms and cyclones. The monsoon conditions subsided early February, but the collected data still included the required variety of atmospheric conditions. Two fully instrumented small boats performed a set of pre-designed manoeuvres and data was collected throughout the diurnal cycle. DST team used FLIR long-wave and mid-wave IR cameras. Weather data (temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction) was also locally collected for the duration of the trial. The purpose of this paper is to present aspects of modelling of elements of IR scenes using the DST-developed VIRSuite tool (Virtual Infrared Simulation). Modelling will focus on mid-wave IR rendition and direct comparison with the collected imagery.