54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Peering Through The Clouds

High-flying, unmanned spy planes have the media’s attention. Impressive as those aircraft might be, however, they are nothing without the specialized instruments that grab images to be transmitted back to the United States.

Spy drones carry sensor packages to pick up visible and infrared light, as well as a sophisticated form of radar called synthetic aperture radar, or SAR. San Diego’s aerospace and defense businesses do a good deal of work on such devices. They also write software to help interpret the images that come out of them.

The possibility of the spy technology was illustrated just after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The Air Force diverted one of its Global Hawk aircraft, designed by Northrop Grumman Corp. in San Diego, over the island country to help authorities assess damage. As of Feb. 12, the aircraft had flown six missions and sent back 3,600 images of the devastation — including remarkable shots of the ruined national cathedral and presidential palace.

Those images were infrared images. The aircraft also has the capability of taking electro-optical images, similar to what a television camera would see.

Global Hawk flies at up to 60,000 feet, and is seen as the eventual replacement for the U-2 spy plane.

Radar’s Reach

Then there is synthetic aperture radar, or SAR.

Synthetic aperture radar produces images which a casual observer might consider ghostly and skeletal. Since they do not need a light source, the SAR can generate images at night. They can also generate images through cloud cover.

Processing the large amount of data that comes into the radar requires a fast computer system, according to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Synthetic aperture radar makes up one of two business units of Poway-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. There are 450 employees in the Reconnaissance Systems Group, which builds the Lynx SAR. General Atomics developed the high-resolution technology with the help of Sandia National Laboratories near Albuquerque, N.M.

The other part of the business, of course, is the segment that gets all the media attention: the Aircraft Systems Group, which builds the Predator line of unmanned aircraft. It has 3,800 employees.

Like other military technologies, synthetic aperture radar may one day be adapted for commercial use.

“There are many other applications or potential applications,” says a layman’s explanation of SAR on the Sandia National Laboratories Web site. “Some of these, particularly civilian, have not yet been adequately explored because lower-cost electronics are just beginning to make SAR technology economical for smaller-scale uses.”

The California Department of Conservation Seismic Hazard Mapping Program has employed a version of SAR to identify potential earthquake hazards.

Software For Clarity

Once imagery is gathered, it may need some fine-tuning to help people interpret the data.

SPAWAR, the Navy’s information technology research and procurement agency, which is based in San Diego, is involved in creating software to exploit such images, said a spokesman. SPAWAR is short for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

Private industry works in the same space. BAE Systems, the diversified defense contracting giant based in the United Kingdom, has a division in San Diego devoted to image exploitation.

Some 200 people work in the GXP group, or geospatial exploitation products group, says Mark Sarojak, director of sales and marketing for that part of the business. The group creates ready-made software to help analyze images. That is opposed to doing custom software design for the government — which is a separate side of the business. BAE Systems markets its ready-made software under the SOCET GXP, SOCET SET and GXP Xplorer names. Customers include branches of the military as well as federal civilian agencies.

Not all the companies in the business of gathering and interpreting images are as large as Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems or General Atomics, however.

Consider Pixon Imaging LLC, a San Diego company with three full-time employees and about the same number of consultants. Pixon makes software that enhances video. The software removes fog, haze and mist from images, and removes electronic “noise” generated by the instruments as well.

CEO and Chief Scientist Rick Puetter says he originally used the techniques for his job as an astronomer at UC San Diego.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

Kratos to Deliver Drones Under $58M Order

GA-ASI to Provide Aircraft to Taiwan

Autonomous Vehicle Tech Rides Big Rigs

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-