An Exploration of Vehicle-Terrain Interaction in IR Synthetic Scenes

IR synthetic scene fidelity improves with each leap ahead in computing capability. Military training, in particular, is reaping the benefits from each improvement in rendering fidelity and speed. However, in order for these synthetic scenes to be useful for signature virtual prototyping or laboratory observer trials, a particularly challenging aspect still needs to be addressed. Synthetic scenes need to have the ability to include robust physically reasonable active source prediction models for vehicles and to include physically reasonable interaction of vehicles with the terrain. Ground heating from exhaust, radiative heating and reflections between the vehicle and terrain, and tracks left on the terrain are just some examples of desired capabilities. For determining the performance of signature treatments, the effects must be more than artistic renderings of vehicle terrain interaction, but physically representative enough to make engineering determinations. This paper will explore the results of a first phase study to include MuSES targets in an existing IR synthetic scene program and the inclusion of exhaust impingement on the terrain.