Toronto, July 2008: AUG Signals has secured a Defence Industrial Research (DIR) Program project entitled “Enhanced Military Capabilities with Rapid Covariance Equalization Change Detection.” Sponsored by the Department of National Defence, this two year project aims to develop a software product for macro-level change detection (i.e. detection and quantification of change) of SAR, IR, and electrooptical images. The innovation will be to develop Covariance Equalization (CE) change detection technique that will reduce the false changes detected because of the often unavoidable image misregistration. The resulting change detection technology can be applied strategically, operationally or tactically, with the focus on automatic and efficient processing of large volumes of data to flag regions of change at a macro-level for further analysis.
In operational theatres such as Afghanistan, adversaries make use of the local population as a means of concealing their activities from allied surveillance. For example, the IED (Improvised Explosive Device) system of supply and deployment is disguised amongst the day-to-day activities of the local population. Analysis of individual changes is of limited value in wide-area surveillance since there are too many changes occurring and specific changes of importance are difficult to identify. Macro-level change detection instead aims to take a high-level view and establish a normal range for the number of changes in an area of interest over a period of time. If the number of changes moves outside this band of normalcy, it is an indicator of activity in the area of interest and a possible precursor of an attack, a supply operation, or a movement of insurgents. Pattern recognition techniques in conjunction with human intelligence can be used to identify the nature of the change and can lead to a risk/threat evaluation.
The resulting capabilities will include identifying changes in enemy resources or activity during reconnaissance, detecting suspicious activity during surveillance, providing scouting ability for a moving convoy, and supporting situational awareness when protecting garrisons or high-value targets.
For more information, please contact the Project Manager, Dr. Ting Liu at tliu@augsignals.com