3.14.1 Warfighter Needs
Full Knowledge of the space/upper atmosphere environment is required for the DoD to maintain control of the "high ground" during all levels of engagement. Inadequate knowledge of the space environment, in which and through which the DoD must operate, jeopardizes the safety and effectiveness of warfighting units. At the same time, the potential for electronic warfare places a high demand on DoD systems to distinguish hostile actions from naturally-occurring events and to respond accordingly. The increased specification and mitigation techniques associated with the Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment goals will be major contributors to dominant battlespace knowledge and superior electronic warfare capabilities.
Recent activities have provided the impetus for improved specification of the C3I battlespace environment. For example, C3 outages in Panama, in 1989-1990, facilitated the incorporation of products within this subarea into DoD operations that led to significant cost savings and increased operational access to space assets during Desert Storm (via JCS). Ongoing support in present areas of conflict is now integrated into mission planning to minimize surprise loss of access to GPS and C3I space assets.
3.14.2 Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment Overview
3.14.2.1 Goals and Timeframes. The technologies developed under the Specification of the C3I Battlespace Environment (SE.36.01.F) are directed towards understanding , assessing and responding to those space/upper atmosphere environmental effects that limit the effectiveness of DoD operational assets. Specific goals and timelines for SE.36.01.ANF and supporting applications are as follows:
| FY97 | 60% improvement in prediction accuracy of C3 outages.
60% improvement in radar target geolocation and target-image reconstruction. 60% increase in satellite anomaly prediction and space environmental mitigation. |
| FY03 | 80 % improvement in prediction accuracy of C3 outages.
80% improvement in radar target geolocation and target-imagereconstruction. 80% increase in satellite anomaly prediction and space environmental mitigation. |
| FY07 | 95% improvement in prediction accuracy of C3 outages and radar target
geolocation.
95% improvement in radar target geolocation and target-image reconstruction. 95% increase in satellite anomaly prediction and space environmental mitigation. |
Understanding the dynamics of the space/upper atmosphere environment and is critical for the design of space-based sensors and their associated signal and image analysis and the functioning of communication systems.
3.14.2.2 Major Technical Challenges. The theoretical foundations of the space/upper atmosphere environment have steadily progressed since the mid 70's due to the availability of scientific data from DoD, civil and foreign sources. For example, disturbances in C3I functions have been well correlated with environmental parameters such as solar flares and the intensity of geomagnetic storms and ionospheric plasma density structures. The availability of these parameters, in real-time to space operations, is limited and currently requires proxy data to provide adequate environmental specifications. Current efforts must be geared towards obtaining real-time prediction capability through the development of a better theoretical foundation of space/upper atmosphere dynamics and effective measuring/sampling techniques. Specific technology development areas include advanced coupled space environmental modeling specifying the geospace environment and dynamic models of spacecraft electrical interactions with space plasmas.
3.14.2.3 Related Federal and Private Sector Efforts. NASA, NOAA, and NSF are involved with the DoD in a strategy to achieve, within the next ten years, a system to provide timely, accurate, and reliable space environment observations, specifications, and forecasts. Included in this strategy is support to the space/upper atmosphere environment for specifying, predicting and mitigating the adverse space environmental effects to C3I systems. The National Space Weather Program is run under the auspices of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research. Agency roles and missions specify that the DoD is responsible for developing physics-based models of the solar-terrestrial environment for operational utility.
3.14.3 S&T Investment Strategy
In executing the Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment R&D program, focus is maintained on specific technology demonstrations in order that the technology effort at the component level can be focused. For the Specification of the C3I Battlespace Environment, these investments include the demonstration of empirical and physics-based models and the technology transition of these models to the primary DoD operational user; that is, the AF Space Command's 50 Weather Squadron (50 WS). Additional investments include developing and testing operational sensors to detect ionospheric scintillations (satellite beacons) and density structures. These investments will provide the 50 WS with an unparalleled capability to specify and predict C3I outages in support of the Warfighter. Furthermore, these investments benefit the DoD for improved radar target geolocation (see Radar Sensors 3.1), Electronic Upsets (see section 3.8), and satellite anomaly prediction due to interpreting signals and images important to Automatic Target Recognition (see 3.4)
3.14.3.1 Technical Demonstrations. Technology Demonstrations for the Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment are divided into two distinct classes. The first is to evaluate space/upper atmosphere environmental impacts on C3I functions. While these interactions are fairly well understood, the evaluations provide guidance and facilitate informational dissemination to DoD operations relative to space/upper atmosphere environmental impacts. The second broad objective is to validate that the technologies to specify the C3I environment are sufficiently developed and understood to be transferred to C3I operations via the 50 WS.
3.14.3.1.2 Specification of the C3I Battlespace Environment. These demonstrations, when successful, fulfill DTO SE.36.01.F. These demonstrations are conducted in a building block fashion evolving from the current climatology model of ionospheric scintillation specification (WBMOD), to the initial demonstration of a physics-based specification model in FY97, to the initial demonstration of a physics-based forecast model in FY99, and finally to the initial demonstration of the coupled space-environmental models in FY01. Operational deployment of the coupled models will be complete in FY07. The first demonstration is to validate the Coupled Ionospheric Scintillation Model (CISM) developed to support military satellite communications (MILSATCOM). Validation and operation of the CISM will be enabled by available Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) in-situ ionospheric plasma data and ground-based instrument to monitor irregularity structure. The next demonstration is for validating the Theoretical Ionosphere - Atmosphere Real-time Algorithm (TIARA) to forecast the occurrence of ionospheric scintillations. The final demonstration is for validating those aspects of the advanced coupled space environmental models via the Integrated Space Environmental Model (ISEM) which provides the 50 WS with a fully-coupled geospace specification.
3.14.3.2 Technology Development. Technology advances in all constituent areas of the DTO SE.36.01.F are required to achieve the goals of the Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment program as it pertains to the Specification of the C3I Battlespace Environment.
3.14.3.3 Basic Research. As noted in 3.14.2.2, the major
challenges for the Space/Upper Atmosphere Environment battlespace
subarea are the theoretical foundations to the currently existing
empirical models. Relative to the development of the CISM under
DTO SE.36.01.F, the growth rate for ionospheric scintillations
must be derived from the generalized Rayleigh-Taylor plasma instability
theory. Further, the development of the TIARA algorithm and of
the advanced coupled space environment models must provide for
a self-consistent flow of energy and matter across distinct models
of the geospace environment.