There are many separated infrastructural objects within a harbor area that may be considered "critical", such as gas and oil terminals
or anchored naval vessels. Those objects require special protection, including security systems capable of monitoring both surface and
underwater areas, because an intrusion into the protected area may be attempted using small surface vehicles (boats, kayaks, rafts,
floating devices with weapons and explosives) as well as underwater ones (manned or unmanned submarines, scuba divers). The paper
will present the concept of multisensor security system for a harbor protection, capable of complex monitoring of selected critical
objects within the protected area. The proposed system consists of a command centre and several different sensors deployed in key
areas, providing effective protection from land and sea, with special attention focused on the monitoring of underwater zone. The
initial project of such systems will be presented, its configuration and initial tests of the selected components. The protection of
surface area is based on medium-range radar and LLTV and infrared cameras. Underwater zone will be monitored by a sonar and
acoustic and magnetic barriers, connected into an integrated monitoring system. Theoretical analyses concerning the detection of fast,
small surface objects (such as RIB boats) by a camera system and real test results in various weather conditions will also be presented.
Every naval vessel can be detected and identified on the basis of its characteristics. The reduction of signature or
matching it to the surrounding environment are one of the key tasks regarding survivability on a modern battlefield. The
typical coatings applied on the outer surfaces of vessels are various kinds of paints. Their purpose is to protect the hull
from aggressive sea environment and to provide camouflage in the visual spectrum as well as scatter and deflect
microwave radiation. Apart from microwave and visual, infrared is most important spectral band used for detection
purposes. In order to obtain effective protection in infrared the thermal signature of a vessel is required. It is determined
on the basis of thermal contrast between a vessel itself and actual background and depends mostly on radiant properties
of the hull. Such signature can be modified by altering apparent temperature values or the directions, in which the
infrared radiation is emitted. The paper discusses selected methods of modification of vessel's infrared signature and
effectiveness of infrared camouflage. Theoretical analyses were preceded by experimental measurements. The
measurement-class infrared cameras and imaging spectroradiometers were used in order to determine the radiant
exitance from different surface types. Experiments were conducted in selected conditions taking into account solar
radiation and radiation reflected from elements of the surrounding scenery. Theoretical analysis took into account radiant
angular properties of a vessel hull and attenuation of radiation after passing through the atmosphere. The study was
performed in MWIR and LWIR ranges.
The increasing range of naval engagements results in development of camouflages applied on warships that mask their
signatures first in visible and next in and IR spectra. Camouflage applied on warships that mask their IR signatures is one
of the most basic countermeasure methods against attacks by heat-seeking missiles. A set of special coatings applied to
the ship's hull allows misidentification by enemies weapon and so make the ship harder to destroy. Thus the knowledge
on actual thermal contrast between the ship and surrounding background is required in order to provide an effective
antimissile defense. The paper presents selected aspects related to ship's camouflage realized by altering its thermal
signature as well as the results of radiometric measurement of thermal radiation of IR-masking coatings. Measurements
were performed using IR imaging spectrometers in near, medium and far infrared spectra. The presented measurement
results constitute the basis for the assessment of the effectiveness of IR masking methods and additionally provide the
opportunity to effectively simulate the properties of masking coatings and further to optimize their radiometric properties
in the infrared range.
Protection of naval bases and harbors requires close co-operation between security and access control systems covering
land areas and those monitoring sea approach routes. The typical location of naval bases and harbors - usually next to a
large city - makes it difficult to detect and identify a threat in the dense regular traffic of various sea vessels (i.e.
merchant ships, fishing boats, tourist ships). Due to the properties of vessel control systems, such as AIS (Automatic
Identification System), and the effectiveness of radar and optoelectronic systems against different targets it seems that
fast motor boats called RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) could be the most serious threat to ships and harbor infrastructure. In
the paper the process and conditions for the detection and identification of high-speed boats in the areas of ports and
naval bases in the near, medium and far infrared is presented. Based on the results of measurements and recorded
thermal images the actual temperature contrast delta T (RIB / sea) will be determined, which will further allow to specify
the theoretical ranges of detection and identification of the RIB-type targets for an operating security system. The data
will also help to determine the possible advantages of image fusion where the component images are taken in different
spectral ranges. This will increase the probability of identifying the object by the multi-sensor security system equipped
additionally with the appropriate algorithms for detecting, tracking and performing the fusion of images from the visible
and infrared cameras.
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