ABSTRACT
The utility of distributed microsensors for tracking and classification can be shown in applications such as gunfire localization and caliber classification. A primary application of networked microsensors is the detection and tracking of targets. Sensor networks consist of multiple sensors, often multi-phenomenological and deployed in forward regions, containing or connected to processors and databases, with alerts exfiltrated for observation by human operators in rear areas or on the front lines. Networked microsensors can be used for a host of applications other than detection, tracking, and classification of military targets. Advances in technology have enabled sensors to be sensitive enough to detect tiny changes in the environment. Uncooled microbolometer thermal imaging sensors can classify vehicles, for instance, according to temperature profiles based on normalized histograms or statistical properties of target pixel luminances compared with background information. In distributed sensor networks, targets are classified using multiple measurements performed at multiple nodes.
