Test and Evaluation of Flight Vehicles using IR Imaging Techniques

Test and evaluation of flight vehicles play a significant role towards the successful validation of various design criteria of the flight vehicles. Analytical studies, design simulation, simulated performance validation with respect to various critical design parameters provide the basic level of design qualification. However, for the final validation of the flight vehicle performance, it requires a number of flight tests. During the actual flight test, the real time performance of the flight vehicle is monitored through a number of instrumentation systems. Infrared Imaging with its feature of real time image formation, detection of least temperature wrt background, real time image processing, automatic target detection and tracking play a crucial role towards the evaluation of flight vehicle performance. In the present paper, a detailed analysis has been performed regarding the IR camera and its possible application for test and evaluation of flight vehicles. A number of real time image processing methodologies are also discussed as a part of automatic target detection and tracking. Further, a brief introduction to IR radiation, transmission and IR sensors are also covered in the present paper. The principle of infrared target detection and various automatic tracking algorithms are explained in detail. Finally, the role of infrared imaging for providing various parameters of the vehicle during the flight trial is explained.