<title>NAWCAD photogrammetrics: methods and applications for aviation test and evaluation</title>

Abstract

Photogrammetry using multiple sequential recorded film and video images has been an integral part of flight test and evaluation at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at Patuxent River, Maryland for nearly 40 years. Photogrammetric analysis is used for evaluation of stores separation, carrier suitability, ballistic trajectory tracking, overhead impact scoring, and mishap reconstruction. NAWCAD, Patuxent River, Maryland recently began flight testing for the F/A-18 E/F development program. The initial phase of the weapons separation portion of the F/A-18 E/F development program is a 13 month project consisting of two aircraft flying 256 flights during which 2000 stores will be dropped. To meet the challenge of processing high volumes of photogrammetric data and delivering solutions within 72 hours of each flight, the NAWCAD Photogrammetric Team initiated strategies to reduce the time and to increase the volume of data analysis, and to increase the accuracies of solution processes that historically have been labor intensive and difficult to present. The NAWCAD Photogrammetric Team is developing an image enhancement and data analysis system, and the on-line database which will provide near real-time access and retrievability of test data. This paper describes how NAWCAD scientists have applied a clearly defined process for photogrammetric efforts, and implemented state-of-the-art hardware and software methodologies and architecture that reduce the turnaround time, reduce the cost, increase the accuracy, and facilitate the delivery of custom-formatted products to the flight test engineer.