Image-enhanced tracking

Measurement of the angular orientation of the target or the target designation makes possible the design of high-accuracy tracking and prediction systems. Such measurements are best accomplished with an imaging sensor. A model is presented for the image-based observation link, along with the equations used to convert a sequence of image processor outputs into an estimate of target status. An example examines the interrelationship which exists between the rate of feature changes of a target, the frame rate of the imager, and the sensitivity of the sensor-image processor. It is shown that even at high frame rates, anomalous events may occur