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Spotlight on S&T - July 2005

Defence R&D Canada to Host International Maritime Trials

An international collaborative experiment known as Maritime Sensor Integration Experiment (MARSIE) will conduct a Maritime Incursion Scenario off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in October 2005. A large container vessel, en route from Liverpool (UK) will drop off a simulated contraband package, with an attached radar reflector, to a Canadian fishing trawler, which will then carry the simulated contraband inshore and itself hand-off the package to three smaller inshore vessels in three separate sub-scenarios. This will occur all under the watchful eyes of Defence R&D Canada (DRDC), the Navy, the RCMP, the Coast Guard, Transport Canada and Department of Fisheries. Various sensors, both operational and experimental, will follow the progressive hand-off activities both in the North Atlantic and in the Canadian coastal area.

While DRDC will be the principal contributor of sensors, scientific effort and coordination to this initiative, other international participants will be the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, all in varying levels of involvement.

High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR).

Some of the participating DRDC technologies will be:

High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) - provides information on low-altitude and surface targets within its surveillance area on a real-time basis.

Enhanced Low Light Visible and Infrared Surveillance System (ELVISS) - combines a powerful near-infrared pulsed laser illuminator and gated infrared image-intensifier viewing system with a thermal imaging system into an integrated instrument tailored to surveillance in poor visibility.

Enhanced Low Light Visible and Infrared Surveillance System (ELVISS).

Stealth Buoy - designed to lie on the ocean floor until it rises to the surface in response to a sound, such as the noise of a ship's propeller. It can monitor an area within a kilometre or two of its placement, transmit data to a receiving station, and then return to the ocean floor to wait for the next event.

The buoy on the ocean floor.

Hyperspectral Imaging - A hyperspectral imager builds an image as the instrument is flown over an area. The image of the scene is divided into many wavelength bands, which can be processed to detect targets by the subtle differences in colour between target and background.

In preparation for the upcoming trials, Defence R&D Canada - Ottawa hosted a virtual proof-of-concept simulation demonstration in late June 2005. Visitors were given different views of the trial (ground view, surveillance aircraft view, and common operating environment view) with an overall recognized maritime picture being generated every two hours.