Layered sensing to enhance situational awareness

The technological advances of the information age have created both an opportunity and a challenge for military decision makers. At first glance the variety of data gathered by a multitude of traditional and non-traditional Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensors should allow decision makers to better understand their environment and the threat. However, a number of factors tend to mitigate this advantage. Incompatible data formats, bandwidth limitations, sensor persistence and revisit rates, and multi-level security are but a few of the technical challenges that preclude end users from being able to take full advantage of the sensor information. Further, as the amount of sensor data increases, real challenges emerge in identifying the most salient pieces of information, fusing that with other relevant sensor modalities, and rapidly moving this information in a presentation format that does not overwhelm the decision maker.