Marine Aerosol Properties and Thermal Imager Performance (MAPTIP): Synopsis

The MAPTIP (Marine Aerosol Properties and Thermal Imager Performance) experiment was organised as part of a project to assess atmospheric effects on the performance of electro-optical sensor systems in coastal areas. The main issue was the detection and identification of targets. The experiment took place at the North Sea from 11 October to 5 November, 1993, and was centred around Meetpost Noordwijk, a research tower 9 km from the Dutch coast. Platforms included a beach station, ship, research airplane, P3 Orion, helicopter and three buoys. The aim was to characterise the atmosphere (aerosols, extinction, turbulence, refractivity, and the vertical and horizontal variations of relevant meteorological parameters) in combination with detailed measurements of optical and IR effects using thermal imagers, visual cameras, transmissometers and visibility meters, as well as a variety of point sources and ship, aircraft and helicopter serving as targets. Detection and identification ranges were determined and, for the interpretation of IR signature measurements, IR properties of extended targets were continuously monitored with radiometers. Extensive studies were made on polarisation effects, backgrounds and effects of sun glint. An overview of the experimental efforts and the ansuing analysis and modeling studies is presented. MAPTIP was the first validation of some recently developed atmospheric propagation models, including aerosol models, in a coastal environment MAPTIP has yielded a wealth of data for the development of advanced aerosol models, description of horizontal variability, improvement of point target detection algorithms, validation of detection range models, and EOTDA validation