Ground surveillance system
US6791673B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 7, 2003 |
| Grant date | Sep 14, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 7, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01C11/04
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention is a method and apparatus for exercising surveillance over a surface from an observation point above the surface utilizing three-dimensional map data pertaining to the surface. The method comprises the steps (1) intercepting the light rays from a surface in a field of view, (2) separating the intercepted light rays into a plurality of light-ray clusters, a light-ray cluster comprising a plurality of light-ray bundles, a light-ray bundle being the light rays from a point on the surface in the field of view, a light-ray cluster being the light-ray bundles from a region of contiguous points on the surface, (3) determining the map coordinates of each region from which a light-ray cluster comes, (4) obtaining a measure of the radiant power and/or color of each light-ray cluster at predetermined time intervals, and (5) identifying the map coordinates of a surface activity from measurements of the radiant power of the light-ray clusters.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.