Smart Sensor Web: Web-based exploitation of sensor fusion for visualization of the tactical battlefield

Smart Sensor Web (SSW) is a recent DUSD (S&T) initiative inspired by extraordinary technological advances in sensors and microelectronics and by the emergence of the Internet as a real time communication tool. The overall vision for SSW is an intelligent, Web-centric distribution and fusion of sensor information that provides greatly enhanced situational awareness, on demand, to warfighters at lower echelons. Emphasis is on multi-sensor fusion of large arrays of local sensors, joined with other assets, to provide real-time imagery, weather, targeting information, mission planning, and simulations for military operations on land, sea, and air. This paper gives an overview of this new initiative, highlights some of the technology challenges in sensor/information Fusion, and presents a program approach for near-term demonstrations and long-term solutions, involving the DoD, National Labs, commercial industry, and academia.