Research Article

EO Sensor Planning for UAV Engineering Reconnaissance Based on NIIRS and GIQE

Table 1

Estimated visible NIIRS of common engineering reconnaissance tasks.

Rating Level 0
Interpretability of the imagery is precluded by obscuration, degradation, or very poor resolution.
Rating Level 1
Distinguish between major land use classes (e.g., urban, agricultural, forest, water, barren).
Detect a medium-sized port facility.
Detect large highways or railway bridges on the water.
Detect landing obstacle belts on a beachhead.
Rating Level 2
Detect large buildings (e.g., hospitals, factories).
Identify road patterns, like clover leafs, on major highway systems.
Detect areas where the forest has been felled.
Detect a multilane highway.
Rating Level 3
Identify the shoreline of a major river.
Detect a helipad by the configuration and markings.
Detect individual houses in residential neighborhoods.
Detect an engineering equipment in operation.
Detect a floating bridge erected in the river.
Rating Level 4
Identify tracked or wheeled engineering equipment, wheeled vehicles by general type when in groups.
Identify the destruction of the riverbank after the haul road construction of the crossing site.
Detect a bridge on small river or mechanized bridge equipment in engineering operation.
Detect a hastily constructed military road when not camouflaged.
Detect landslide or rockslide large enough to obstruct a single-lane road.
Detect antitank ditch or trench in monotonous background.
Detected pathways in obstacle field.
Identify suitable area for constructing helipad.
Rating Level 5
Identify the type of soil of riverbanks.
Identify beach terrain suitable for amphibious landing operation.
Identify whether there is a bypass route around the main road.
Identify bridge structure and damages.
Identify the type of trees.
Identify tents (larger than two persons) at camping areas.
Distinguish between pattern painting camouflages and cover camouflages of military facilities.
Rating Level 6
Detect summer woodland camouflage netting large enough to cover a tank against a scattered tree background.
Detect navigational channel markers and mooring buoys in water.
Detect recently installed minefields in ground forces deployment area based on a regular pattern of disturbed earth or vegetation.
Identify obstacles in the road.
Identify the type of large obstacles in obstacle belt (e.g., rail obstacle, antitank tetrahedron, etc.)
Distinguish between wheeled bulldozers and loaders
Rating Level 7
Distinguish between tanks, artillery, and their decoys.
Identify the entrance of semiunderground works when not camouflaged.
Detect underwater pier footings.
Detect foxholes by ring of spoil outlining hole.
Rating Level 8
Identify the number of personnel in engineering operations.
Identify the shooting holes in the ground fortifications and detect scattered mines by minelaying vehicles.
Rating Level 9
Identify individual barbs on a barbed wire fence.
Identify equipment number painted on the engineering equipment.
Identify braid of ropes 1 to 3 inches in diameter.