Related Information Program Manager: Niel Holt Email: niel.holt@sdl.usu.edu TARS MVE Fact Sheet (PDF 425 KB) SDL's C4ISR Systems Related Programs NAVIS NSN SHARP TARPS‐CD TIS‐SPE

TARS MVE
Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System Mission Verification Equipment

Working in conjunction with the US Air Force, the Space Dynamics Laboratory developed the Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS) Mission Verification Equipment (MVE) ground station for use in aircrew training, mission results validation, target verification, and on‐site maintenance assistance. The TARS MVE is a state‐of‐the‐art portable ground station for the rapid screening of Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS) tactical imagery data. The ground station is built from non‐developmental commercial off‐the‐shelf (COTS) and government off‐the‐shelf (GOTS) hardware and includes custom image processing and manipulation software.

Features of the TARS MVE

• The TARS MVE receives and processes sensor data [Medium Altitude Electro‐Optical (MAEO) and Forward Framing Sensor (FFS)] from live downlinks through the TARS surface terminal equipment (STE) or via a solid‐state recorder (SSR).
• TARS MVE is equipped with Display Stations for data capture, display, and exploitation.
• TARS MVE is supported by Vantage software for receiving, decompressing, processing, displaying, evaluating, exploiting, and storing imagery data.
• The MVE ground station supports up to two image analysts and is expandable to support an additional MVE as well as additional networked desktops and laptops.

How it works

• The TARS MVE system screens image data from a TARS sensor that has been previously recorded to the SSR or received via live downlink.
• As the image files are staged, via a high‐speed interface, the software displays decimated image thumbnails in a continuous waterfall of image swaths according to the given sensor model and navigation data.
• The operator has full control over the waterfall’s speed, direction, magnification level, and display of annotation data captured from the pod. If the data is dual‐mode (MAEO and FFS), two waterfalls are used to separate the imagery.
• When an area of interest appears on the waterfall, the operator may select one or more frames to “chip” to a cross frame window.
• The cross frame image is the same fidelity as that received from the sensor and can be manipulated (zoomed, panned, rotated, contrast enhanced, etc.) or annotated with text or graphic overlays.
• Image products may then be printed, saved to disk, or disseminated to another station via Ethernet connection.

In addition to image screening and analysis functions, the TARS MVE also provides the capability to archive data to and from the digital storage device to support data duplication and back up.