A Next-Generation System Enables Persistent Surveillance of Wide Areas

Finding, tracking, and monitoring events and activities of interest on a continuous basis are critically important for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). In particular, we want to monitor large areas (tens of square kilometers) with sufficiently high resolution for distinguishing and tracking dismounts (persons) and vehicles. This is a challenge because imagery for a square kilometer at 15cm ground space distance (i.e., the size of the pixels on the ground) requires more than 44 million pixels. We also want to monitor these areas on a persistent basis using unmanned autonomous systems (UASs).