To address the issues of maritime border surveillance or long range UAV identification, we develop two laser imagers (a 2D and a 3D system) with long range (LR) capacities to improve significantly the performances in terms of scope of monitoring and persistence of functions (e.g. H24, degraded visibility...). These systems are based on a new generation of focal plane arrays (FPA) with Avalanche PhotoDiode (APD) and are combined with high-performance image processing ("real-time") devoted to superresolution or tracking. In this paper, we first present the results of several maritime surveillance or Counter- Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) demonstrations respectively conducted on a coastal site and a sensitive area. Comparisons between passive and active sensors are shown. The measurements obtained on various maritime targets are completed by end to end modelling in order to assess the systems performances in various atmospheric environments.
In this paper, we show the feasibility and the benefit to use a Geiger-mode Avalanche Photo-Diode (GmAPD) array for long range detection, up to several kilometers. A simulation of a Geiger detection sensor is described, which is a part of our end-to-end laser simulator, to generate simulated 3D laser images from synthetic scenes. Resulting 3D point clouds have been compared to experimental acquisitions, performed with our GmAPD 3D camera on similar scenarios. An operational case of long range detection is presented: a copper cable outstretched above the ground, 1 kilometer away the experimental system and with a horizontal line-of-sight (LOS). The detection of such a small object from long distance observation strongly suggests that GmAPD focal plane arrays could be easily used for real-time 3D mapping or surveillance applications from airborne platforms, with good spatial and temporal resolutions.
In the past few decades, laser imaging has demonstrated its potential in delivering accurate range images of objects or scenes, even at long range or under bad weather conditions (rain, fog, day and night vision). We note great improvements in the conception and development of single and multi infrared sensors, concerning embedability, circuitry reading capacity, or pixel resolution and sensitivity, allowing a wide diversity of applications (i.e. enhanced vision, long distance target detection and reconnaissance, 3D DSM generation). Unfortunately, it is often difficult to dispose of all the instruments to compare their performance for a given application. Laser imaging simulation has shown to be an interesting alternative to acquire real data, offering a higher flexibility to perform this sensors comparison, plus being time and cost efficient. In this paper, we present a 3D laser imaging end-to-end simulator using a focal plane array with Geiger mode detection, named LANGDOC. This work aims to highlight the interest and capability of this new generation of photo-diodes arrays, especially for airborne mapping and surveillance of high risk areas.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.