N101-089 TITLE: Light Weight Coastal Topographic/ Bathymetric Charting System for Naval Unmanned Airborne Vehicles

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Sensors, Battlespace

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO C4I/PMW-120 Future MetOc Capabilities

OBJECTIVE: Design and build an autonomous hydrographic charting, terrain and urban area mapping system that can be accommodated within the payload and operational limitations of a Tier II UAV, with equal or better capabilities to the current manned Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) system.

DESCRIPTION: The need is to employ new technologies in signal processing chip size and processing power, lidar tranceivers, hyperspectral focal plane arrays and related technologies to reduce size, weight, and power (SWAP) of DoD hydrographic mapping systems. The current aircraft-based precision hydrographic charting, terrain and urban area mapping technologies require manned operation and the payload capacity of a C-12 sized aircraft. Designing a new system that could be carried by a Tier II unmanned aircraft platform in the Navy inventory, such as the Scan Eagle UAS would allow the system to operate in conditions not supportable by the current capability. This will require S&T development to significantly miniaturize the topographic/hydrographic LiDAR, power, navigation, and processing systems. See References below and http://shoals.sam.usace.army.mil/Charts.aspx for technical specifications of the fielded system.

The new system should be capable of collecting hydrographic and topographic data in a single mission with data point ground spacing no larger than 4-meters by 4-meters in a variety of water clarity conditions and bottom types. The ability to interface with organic Tactical Control Stations (TCS) is needed as well as the ability to retrieve and rapidly process collected data post flight or in real-time to the TCS, although these would be requirements for Phase III development or beyond. The hydrographic/topographic system should either provide its own precise navigation and attitude capability or have the ability to utilize organic systems onboard the UAS.

PHASE I: Develop overall system design that includes specification of remote sensing approach and enabling technologies for the required digital terrain elevation and bathymetric retrievals, sensor engineering specification to meet the payload restrictions of the Naval Tier II UAS, and general protocols for operation and environments where the proposed solution will be valid.

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system in a realistic environment to include autonomous operation of the sensor and size/weight/power within payload specifications of expected operational platform. Conduct testing in coastal environments to prove feasibility over extended operating conditions and resulting data retrievals to compare with ground truth survey data. This testing should be compliant with UAS specifications and Interface Control Documents but may be conducted by a contract aircraft or other contractor provided platform.

PHASE III: Transition the technology to scientific use in the atmospheric, oceanographic and environmental monitoring research communities; and operational use by DOD charting and mapping systems such as those deployed by DoN NOP, USACE, and USGS. Prototype system will be retained by ONR.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This system could be used in a broad range of military and civilian survey operations where autonomous systems are necessary or more cost effective � for example, by DoD, USGS, or NGOs in overseas or peacekeeping operations or disaster recovery where air dominance is not completely secured. Nearly 300 projects have been completed with the current system since 1994 including Coastal Navigation, Nautical Charting, Military Rapid Environmental Assessment, Regional Coastal Zone Mapping, Emergency Response/ Disaster Recovery, and Environmental Conservancy.

REFERENCES:
1. Guenther, G.C., Cunningham A.G., LaRocque, P.E. and Reid, D.J. 2000. Meeting the accuracy challenge in airborne lidar bathymetry, Proc. 20th EARSeL Symposium: Workshop on Lidar Remote Sensing of Land and Sea, June 16-17, Dresden, Germany, European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories, 23 pp.

2. Guenther, G.C., Lillycrop, W.J. and Banic, J.R. 2002, Future advancements in airborne hydrography, International Hydrographic Review, August 2002, 3:2:67-90.

3. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 2007. Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007-2032. Available from: http://www.acq.osd.mil

4. Wozencraft, J.M. and Millar, D. 2005. Airborne lidar and integrated technologies for coastal mapping and charting, Marine Technology Society Journal, Fall 2005, 39:3:27-35.

KEYWORDS: lidar; hyperspectral; topographic survey; bathymetric survey; airborne autonomous systems

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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