PNNL-13501 - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Exploitation of Conventional Chemical Sensing Data
Michael G. Foley, Timothy J. Johnson, Bruce A. Roberts, Steven W. Sharpe, Marie V. Whyatt
Study Control Number: PN00043/1450
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is developing “remote” methods to detect and characterize chemical species in air
as part of a larger national security effort. Since few chemicals provide stand-alone signatures for components of
weapons of mass destruction, innovative sensing technologies are being developed for the analysis of suspected weaponsproduction
facilities.
Project Description
This project will integrate chemical with spatial and other
types of intelligence information in the context of
proliferation detection. We are developing methods to
streamline this site functional-analysis process by
automating the reverse-engineering of three-dimensional
site infrastructure from overhead imagery, placing the
chemical information in that spatial context, and
correlating the chemicals, plumbing, and site
infrastructure with all other sources of information
relevant to candidate weapons-production processes. The
first year’s work focused on fusing remotely sensed
chemical data with time-sequenced three-dimensional
imaging of the site. During the second year, existing
information-visualization and correlation approaches will
be expanded to include correlation of spatial/objectoriented
site characterization derived from imagery and
chemical information with similar process-based data
from other sources. Third-year efforts will focus on
developing software agents that will enhance the use of
updated information-visualization technology to correlate
imagery with databases for retrieval of information.
We also developed improved chemical ground-truth data
collection and analysis techniques and technology to
ensure the Laboratory’s participation in future field test
campaigns, and thus access to conventional chemical
sensing data. We integrated a graphical user interface to
spectral databases (to improve the user-friendliness of
ground-truth data analysis techniques) with a trailermounted
passive infrared sensor. The sensor, coupled
with the new software, was then used to demonstrate our
ground-truth capabilities during field tests of an airborne
DOE sensor.
Introduction
While chemical information brings a new dimension to
analysis of suspected weapons of mass destruction
production facilities, few chemicals are “smoking guns”
that provide stand-alone proof of proliferation, as is true
of most other types of proliferation information.
Correlating chemical information with other site- or
process-related data is therefore critical, and we hope to
build a larger share of the eventual data analysis market
by pioneering techniques for facilitating and exploiting
these correlations. Correlations between chemical,
process/ facility-requirement, and imagery information
are particularly important; in this project we are
evaluating approaches for creating three-dimensional
computer aided design site models from close-range
photogrammetry of simulated and actual weapons
production site imagery. Our objective is to explore
faster, better, and more robust semiautomated approaches
for generating object-based site and engineered-facility
computer aided design models. Expansion of our
STARLIGHT, SPIRE, and other data correlation and
visualization software to include object-based threedimensional
site infrastructure derived from timetransgressive
imagery would allow comparison with
three-dimensional site “templates” specific to particular
countries’ chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons
production practices. Such country and weapons-type
specific three-dimensional conceptual models are
developed by, for example, S-Tech analytical software.
Incorporation of three-dimensional site infrastructure as a
data type for correlation with chemical plume and other
intelligence information would provide an exceptionally
useful platform for conducting intelligence analyses of
suspected weapons installations if they can be provided in
a timely, labor-conservative manner.
Sensors and Electronics 393