Optronic Measurement, Testing and the Need for Valid Results: Example of Infrared Measurements for Defence Countermeasures

In the development of defence and aerospace products and applications, measurement serves a key role, e.g. measurement serves to characterise and verify behaviour and performance of components and systems. Modelling and simulation depend heavily on measured data to achieve realistic predictions, and is further more dependent on measured data for validation. The Optronic Sensor Systems (OSS) group at the CSIR unit for Defence, Peace, Safety and Security (DPSS) performs laboratory and field measurements in the infrared spectral region, which serves inter alia, for design and optimisation of infrared countermeasures. As such, results of measurements will impact directly on the survival and safety of humans and equipment, e.g. protecting an aircraft and its personnel against an approaching missile. The design, and ultimately, the effectiveness of its performance depend on the validity of the simulation results which affected design decisions. An important requirement is a deep scientific understanding of the measurement equipment, measurement processes or protocols, the unit under test and the effects of the environment on the measurement outcome. Since the measurements and tests are done both in laboratory and field environments, it is important to understand and account for the influence of the environment on the measurement outcome. In addition, consistently disciplined measurement practices are required, e.g. via suitably documented measurement procedures (protocols), traceability to the International System of Units (SI), data management, and accurate log recording methodology. To improve the value of the measurement protocols, researchers at OSS are continuously using, evaluating and reviewing these protocols under laboratory and field trial conditions.