Weapons and Materials Research Directorate Research Areas

Variable Resolution Terrain and Operations Research System Analysis (ORSA) for Military Weapons

Advisor: W.F. Oberle

Key Word: variable resolution terrain, military weapons, geotypical, system analysis, operations research, geospecific, micro-terrain

Many existing weapon effectiveness models use digitized terrain, however it would be beneficial to use terrain that is represented as a continuous surface with infinite resolution. The Variable Resolution Terrain (VRT) model developed and  patented by ARL is one such model. The VRT surface can represent a generic piece of terrain or a geospecific terrain (a surface is created that matches a set of digitized terrain but provides the benefits of a continuous surface). The research opportunity is to extend the mathematical formulation currently being utilized in the VRT model to more accurately represent urban terrain and features.