This paper will describe the USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) technology efforts that provide signal processing and data system support for infrared (IR) Focal Plane Array (FPA) testing. The requirements for AEDC space sensor testing range from component-level FPA characterization to advanced mission simulation.The technology efforts underway address these requirements by developing hardware and software that meet AEDC' s generic needs for FPA testing. Component-level EPA characterization places unique requirements on system fidelity and bandwidth performance. Diversity in sensor types being tested and levels of sensor integration creates the need for versatility in data handling and sensor interfaces. Mission simulation requirements emphasize the need for extended data storage, system throughput, and data display capabilities. A signal processing system will be presented which addresses AEDC's requirements for component-level sensor operation, data acquisition, and flexible interface architectures that can be modified quickly to accommodate different sensor interfaces and data formats. The system will also address the need for high-speed storage of very large data arrays during mission simulation testing. Techniques used to verify and validate system operation will also be presented.AEDC has provided space sensor test services to government and industry for the past three decades. During this period, tremendous advances in sensor technology have pushed the test and evaluation (T&E) community's abilities in the support of current and future test requirements.The collective requirement for space sensor testing is built on the foundation of earlier T&E requirements studies performed by AEDC, Boeing, Hughes, and Nichols Research. These requirements were updated with data gathered from the 1989 and 1990 SDIO Scene Generation Workshop, the Tn-Service Scene Generation Working Group, DoD sensor technology developers, and industry sensor technology developers. Continual interfacing with industry and DoD sensor program offices keeps AEDC current with emerging requirements for future T&E capabilities. * The research reported herein was performed by the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), Air Force Material Command. Work and Analysis for this research were done by personnel of Micro Craft Technology Inc., Technical services contractor for the AEDC aerospace flight dynamics facility. Further reproduction is authorized to satisfy needs of the U.S. Government.

The radiometric measurements group at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) has developed new solar-blind radiometers for the SENSOR TALON flight test. These radiometers will be flown in an instrument pod by the 46th Test Wing at Eglin AFB. The radiometers are required to fit into a single quadrant of a 22-in.-diam sphere turret of the instrument pod. Because of minimal space requirements and photon-counting sensitivity needs, the radiometric measurements group used image intensifiers instead of the standard photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The new design concept improved the photon-counting sensitivity, dynamic range, and uniformity of the field of view as compared to standard PMTs. A custom data acquisition system was required to miniaturize the electronics and generate a pulse code-modulated (PCM) data stream to the standard tape recording system.

This paper will describe the USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) technology efforts that provide signal processing and data system support for infrared (IR) Focal Plane Array (FPA) testing. The requirements for AEDC space sensor testing range from component-level FPA characterization to advanced mission simulation.The technology efforts underway address these requirements by developing hardware and software that meet AEDC's generic needs for FPA testing. Component-level FPA characterization places unique requirements on system fidelity and bandwidth performance. Diversity in sensor types being tested and levels, of sensor integration creates the need for versatility in data handling and sensor interfaces. Mission simulation requirements emphasize the need for extended data storage, system throughput, and data display capabilities. A signal processing system will be presented which addresses AEDC's requirements for component-level sensor operation, data acquisition, and flexible interface architectures that can be modified quickly to accommodate different Sensor interfaces and data formats. The system will also address the need for high-speed storage of very large data arrays during mission siinulation testing. Techniques used to verify and validate system operation will also be presented.