Battlefield Environment Obscuration Handbook. Volume I

Abstract : An investigation has been performed to review an extensive number of technical reports, papers, and books and then to produce a manual for obscurant community use. The title of the assemblage is the Battlefield Environment Obscuration Handbook and is composed of data, models, and other information on the performance of visible and infrared sensors and imaging devices under battlefield conditions characterized by various kinds of environmental obscurants. Included in the Handbook are: natural obscurants such as rain, snow, haze, and fog as well as obscuring materials which arise from anthropogenic sources. The latter include smoke and dust. The data presented are in the form of spectral attenuation coefficients, production rates, precipitation rates, and various other forms for use in models or analytical studies. Also included in the Handbook are the results and description of field tests related to battlefield obscurants and sensor performance test data. A list is provided of the basic input and output parameters for the mathematical models included in the Handbook. Classified and unclassified material were reviewed for information to be included in the Handbook. As a result, there are two large parts of the Handbook. This one contains the unclassified sections of the Handbook in a loose-leaf form for the easy inclusion of additional information as it becomes available. The classified version contains sections and subsections which have classified and unclassified information. The information contained here is not to be considered conclusive since it is a result of a period of research conducted and completed in an area where results and findings are still emerging.