Vulnerability of Optical Systems to the Thermal Radiation From Nuclear Weapons Detonated in the Lower Atmosphere: A Quantitative Approach

Abstract

A quantitative method of determining the vulnerability of optical systems to high levels of thermal radiation energy from nuclear weapons is developed. The scale employed is the volume of space in which detonation of the weapon would disable the system by imaging of the fireball on the sensor. System parameters which are considered as affecting vulnerability are angle of aperture, optical gain, transmission of the optics, and the radiant exposure required to disable the sensor. Sample calculations are presented for a simple system.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 18, 1967
Accession Number
AD0818791

Entities

People

  • Martin J. Kelly
  • Neil Griff

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Atmospheric Attenuation
  • Blast Loads
  • Computer Programs
  • Detonations
  • Equations
  • Explosions
  • Export Controls
  • Gain
  • Government (Foreign)
  • Height Of Burst
  • New York
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Radiation
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Thermal Radiation
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Munitions and Ordnance Engineering
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Space Objects