Air mass parameterization and coastal aerosol modeling

The United States Navy is increasingly concerned with operations in coastal environments. One key threat to ships is the easily launched high precision anti-ship weaponry readily available in the worldarms market. Fleet units operating in either the open ocean or in coastal regions must be able to determine the standoff ranges at which they can detect and/or track such sophisticated weaponry. The Navy is presently developing and utilizing infrared (IR) technology for the detection and identification of such threats. Atmospheric aerosol extinction, refraction, turbulence and infrared sea and terrain background models in LOWTRAN and MODTRAN are presently inadequate for representing IR propagation close to the ocean surface and in coastal environments. This requires accurate models to describe the effects of low level ocean and coastal aerosols to be incorporated into LOWTRAN and MODTRAN for determining the performance of EO systems used for detecting these low-altitude targets.